Automated display of an information technology system configuration

ABSTRACT

An Information Technology (IT) system display method and computer program product. A description is provided of a configuration of devices, network segments, and vertical connectors relating to an IT structure. The devices are initially distributed to form a distribution of the devices in a matrix representing a display screen. A defined goal value of the configuration is a function of a length and weight of each network segment, a length and weight of each vertical connector, and a penalty for each crossing of a device by a network segment. An overlay pattern of the network segments and the vertical connectors overlayed on the matrix is displayed in accordance with the description and the final distribution of the devices in the matrix. The goal value for the final distribution is lower than for the initial distribution. The final distribution is displayed on the display screen together with the overlay pattern.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present patent application is a continuation-in-part of copendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/011,449, filed Dec. 14, 2004 andentitled “Automation of Information Technology System Development”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to automation of InformationTechnology system development and more particularly to an automateddisplay of an Information Technology system configuration.

2. Related Art

A number of activities are associated with use of a computer. Theseactivities may be grouped into several categories: development,deployment, operations and maintenance, and productive use. The categoryof development comprises determination of specific hardware, software,and networking required to satisfy the specific usage needs; planning ofa production system.

The category of deployment comprises implementation of the developedproduction system, ranging from acquisition of the appropriate hardwareand software to installation, configuration, and customization ofacquired software, hardware and network devices, to verification ofcorrectness of the built system.

The category of operations and maintenance comprises operation of thedeployed production system and introduction of changes to it.

The category of productive use comprises application of the deployedproduction system to activities for which it is intended.

The preceding categories of activities are common to computing systems,be it a stand-alone personal computer, or a geographically dispersedcollection of highly complex systems supporting an internationalcorporation. The first three of the preceding categories of activities(i.e., development, deployment, operations) are a liability required insupport of the last activity category of productive use of a computersystem. While for a single stand-alone personal computer, development,deployment and operations may involve miniscule investment of timeand/or money (with the exception of the acquisition of the necessaryhardware and software), in large institutions, these preceding threeactivities occupy armies of technical and administrative personnel andentail high costs, primarily due to complexity of computer systems,exacerbated by constantly evolving technology and business requirements.

Thus, there is a need for a method and system to reduce costs and usereffort pertaining to Information Technology (IT) development.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an Information Technology (IT) systemdisplay method, comprising:

providing a description of a configuration of devices, network segments,and vertical connectors relating to an IT structure, said descriptiondescribing how the devices, the network segments, and the verticalconnectors are mutually coupled;

generating a two-dimensional matrix having N cells therein andrepresenting a display screen, each cell of the matrix adapted to holdno more than one device of said devices, said matrix having NY rowsoriented in a horizontal direction and NX columns oriented in a verticaldirection such that N=NX*NY, said horizontal and vertical directionsbeing mutually perpendicular, said devices being initially distributedto form an initial distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix;

defining a goal value of the configuration, said goal value being afunction of a length and weight of each network segment, a length andweight of each vertical connector, and a penalty for each crossing ofone of said devices by one of said network segments;

determining a final distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix; and

determining an overlay pattern of the network segments and the verticalconnectors overlayed on the matrix in accordance with said finaldistribution and with said description, said goal value relating to thefinal distribution being lower than the goal value relating to theinitial distribution; and

displaying on the display screen said final distribution together withsaid overlay pattern.

The present invention provides a computer program product, comprising acomputer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodiedtherein, said computer readable program code comprising an algorithmadapted to implement an Information Technology (IT) system displaymethod, said method comprising the steps of:

generating a two-dimensional matrix having N cells therein andrepresenting a display screen, each cell of the matrix adapted to holdno more than one device of said devices, said matrix having NY rowsoriented in a horizontal direction and NX columns oriented in a verticaldirection such that N=NX*NY, said horizontal and vertical directionsbeing mutually perpendicular, said devices being initially distributedto form an initial distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix;

defining a goal value of the configuration, said goal value being afunction of a length and weight of each network segment, a length andweight of each vertical connector, and a penalty for each crossing ofone of said devices by one of said network segments;

determining a final distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix; and

determining an overlay pattern of the network segments and the verticalconnectors overlayed on the matrix in accordance with said finaldistribution and with said description, said goal value relating to thefinal distribution being lower than the goal value relating to theinitial distribution; and

displaying on the display screen said final distribution together withsaid overlay pattern.

The present invention provides a process for deploying computinginfrastructure, comprising integrating computer-readable code into acomputing system, wherein the code in combination with the computingsystem is capable of performing an Information Technology (IT) systemdisplay method comprising the steps of:

generating a two-dimensional matrix having N cells therein andrepresenting a display screen, each cell of the matrix adapted to holdno more than one device of said devices, said matrix having NY rowsoriented in a horizontal direction and NX columns oriented in a verticaldirection such that N=NX*NY, said horizontal and vertical directionsbeing mutually perpendicular, said devices being initially distributedto form an initial distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix;

defining a goal value of the configuration, said goal value being afunction of a length and weight of each network segment, a length andweight of each vertical connector, and a penalty for each crossing ofone of said devices by one of said network segments;

determining a final distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix; and

determining an overlay pattern of the network segments and the verticalconnectors overlayed on the matrix in accordance with said finaldistribution and with said description, said goal value relating to thefinal distribution being lower than the goal value relating to theinitial distribution; and

displaying on the display screen said final distribution together withsaid overlay pattern.

The present invention provides a computer system comprising a processorand a computer readable memory unit coupled to the processor, saidmemory unit containing instructions that when executed by the processorimplement an Information Technology (IT) system display method, saidmethod comprising:

providing a description of a configuration of devices, network segments,and vertical connectors relating to an IT structure, said descriptiondescribing how the devices, the network segments, and the verticalconnectors are mutually coupled;

generating a two-dimensional matrix having N cells therein andrepresenting a display screen, each cell of the matrix adapted to holdno more than one device of said devices, said matrix having NY rowsoriented in a horizontal direction and NX columns oriented in a verticaldirection such that N=NX*NY, said horizontal and vertical directionsbeing mutually perpendicular, said devices being initially distributedto form an initial distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix;

defining a goal value of the configuration, said goal value being afunction of a length and weight of each network segment, a length andweight of each vertical connector, and a penalty for each crossing ofone of said devices by one of said network segments;

determining a final distribution of said devices in the cells of thematrix; and

determining an overlay pattern of the network segments and the verticalconnectors overlayed on the matrix in accordance with said finaldistribution and with said description, said goal value relating to thefinal distribution being lower than the goal value relating to theinitial distribution; and

displaying on the display screen said final distribution together withsaid overlay pattern.

The present invention advantageously reduces costs and user effortpertaining to Information Technology (IT) system development, includingreducing costs and user effort associated with display of an IT systemconfiguration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating Information Technology (IT) entitiesincluded in the base entity model, and organized in a class hierarchy,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting the logic of setRelationship( ) method,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting the logic of addElement( ) method, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting the logic of deleteElement( ) method,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart, depicting the logic of setAvailable( ) method,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting the logic of establishInterface( )method, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting the logic of ensureDependencies( )method, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the concept of IT structurecomposition, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a chart depicting the IT development process, in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting the process of translation of an ITstructure instance, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart depicting the translation iteration process, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart depicting the process of ensuring specificationof characteristics of an abstract IT structure instance, in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart depicting the process of adjusting a particularset of characteristics of an IT structure instance, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart depicting the process of selection a subclass ofan IT structure, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart depicting the process of selecting the besttranslation candidate from a list of translation candidates, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart depicting a reverse specification process, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart depicting a process for comparing two ITstructure instances, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 is an extended class hierarchy example, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart for implementing delivery binding of an ITstructure to a delivery environment, in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 20 illustrates a computer system used for implementing an IT EntityModel and associated processes, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 21A depicts a network display comprising devices, network segments,and vertical connectors, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 21B depicts relationships between the network display of FIG. 21Aand a two-dimensional matrix representing the screen layout, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 22A and 22B is a flow chart describing matrix generation andmatrix cell swapping, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart describing rearrangement of network segments, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart of describing the goal function method forcomputing a goal value, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 25-26 illustrate how the swapping of two non-empty cells of thematrix can affect the goal value, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 27-28 illustrate movement of overlapping network segments, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 29 illustrates a display for visualizing IT relationships, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 30 illustrates a display for visualizing IT dependencies, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The detailed description of the present invention is organized into thefollowing sections:

-   1. Nomenclature;-   2. Information Technology (IT) Entity Model (defines basic IT    entities and describes their properties and associated processes);-   3. IT Structure Visualization (generates a display of an IT    structure configuration);-   4. Computer System (describes computer system used to implement an    IT Entity Model and associated processes)

1. Nomenclature

1.1 Flow Charts

The flow charts in the Figures comprise, inter alia, the following blockshapes:

-   1) Rectangular: represents execution of code as described (e.g.,    FIG. 3, block 2202); and-   2) Diamond: represents a decision block (e.g., FIG. 3, block 2203).    1.2 Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are utilized herein.

-   CASE—computer-aided software engineering-   CD—compact disk-   CICS—Customer Information Control System-   CPU—central processor unit-   DASD—direct access storage device-   DB—database-   DNS—domain name server-   DRAM—dynamic random access memory-   DVD—digital video disk-   GB—gigabyte-   GUI—graphical user interface-   HTTP—HyperText Transfer Protocol-   HTTPS—HTTP Secure-   IDE—integrated development environment-   IP—internet protocol-   IT—information technology-   KB—kilobyte-   KW—kilowatt-   LAN—local-area network-   LOC—lines of code-   Mbps—megabits per second-   MHz—mega-Hertz-   MP—multi-processor-   NIC—network interface card-   NOOP—no operation (moot)-   OS—operating system-   PM—person/month-   POTS—“plain old telephone service”-   RAM—random-access memory-   RISC—reduced instruction set computer-   ROM—read-only memory-   SL—service level-   SMTP—Simple Mail Transfer Protocol-   S/N—serial number-   TCO—total cost of ownership-   TCP/IP—transmission control protocol/internet protocol-   UI—user interface-   UML—universal modeling language-   UP—uni-processor-   UPS—uninterruptible power supply

2. Information Technology (IT) Entity Model

IT systems and environments may be described in terms of IT entities.The term “entity” is understood to denote “IT entity” herein.

The base entity model comprises IT entities, relationships among the ITentities, and interfaces and methods provided by these IT entities.

For illustrative purposes, Java-like syntax is used herein as aspecification language for IT structures. An IT structure is a set of ITentities. Generally, another programming language (e.g., objectoriented, procedural, high- or low-level) maybe used instead of Java; amodeling language (e.g., UML) may be used instead of Java; and aspecialized language could be defined and implemented solely for thepurpose of definition of IT structures.

2.1 IT Entities

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating IT entities included in the base entitymodel, and organized in a class hierarchy as shown in Table 1, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

TABLE 1 ITEntity 2001 ITStructure 2003 ITDeliveryEnvironment 2007ITInterface 2005 defaultInterface 2022 InstalledOn 2015 Supports 2016Invokes 2017 Invokable 2018 ConnectsTo 2019 Manages 2020 Mangeable 2021ITRelationship 2004 DefaultITRelationship 2010InstallationITRelationship 2011 InvocationITRelationship 2012CommunicationITRelationship 2013 ManagementITRelationship 2014ITDependency 2006 RequiresPresenceOf 2008 ExclusiveWith 2009

IT entities may be qualified as real, virtual, or abstract. A real ITentity has no undefined characteristic and may therefore be representedphysically. A virtual IT entity has exactly one undefined characteristicand thus cannot have more than one undefined characteristic. An abstractIT entity has at least two undefined characteristics. Examples of realentities, virtual entities, and abstract entities will be presentedinfra. For convenience, class Type is introduced as follows:

Enumeration Type:=(abstract, virtual, real)

2.1.1 ITEntity Class

ITEntity class is introduced for convenience as a root class for theother IT entity classes listed above. ITEntity has the followingmethods:

1) constructor(String name [,Type type])—creates an instance of ITEntitywith the specified name and of optionally specified type

2) boolean is Abstract( ), returns true if ITEntity is abstract, falseotherwise

3) boolean is Virtual( ), returns true if ITEntity is virtual, falseotherwise

4) boolean is Real( ), returns true if ITEntity is real, false otherwise

5) get Name( )—returns ITEntity name

6) setType(Type type)—changes IT entity type as specified

2.2 IT Structures

An IT structure is either a primitive IT structure or a complex ITstructure.

A primitive IT structure is an IT entity representing materials orlabor, indivisible within a particular view to a structural model, and aset of method associated with characteristics of the representedmaterials or labor.

A real primitive IT structure represents a specific single physicalobject or a specific unit of labor. Examples of real primitive ITstructure include:

1) RS/6000 model F50 S/N 123456-AB. There is one and only one RS/6000model F50 with this particular S/N.

2) Software product Ppppp version vvvvv license key12345678-AB-9ABCD-XYZ.

A virtual primitive IT structure represents a class of specific physicalobjects. Examples of virtual primitive IT structure include:

1) RS/6000 model F50. Since no s/n is specified, there is a class ofRS/6000 model F50 this virtual primitive IT structure corresponds to,and RS/6000 model F50 with any s/n belongs to this class.

2) Software product Ppppp version vvvvv.

An abstract primitive IT structure represents an abstract view ofmaterials or labor. In this embodiment, abstract primitive IT structuresinclude the same out-of-model IT entity, called abstractPrimitive. Otherembodiment may have a multiplicity of abstract primitive out-of-modelentities. Examples of abstract primitive IT structure include:

1) RS/6000. Since no model is specified, any RS/6000, including modelF50, as well as any other models, belongs to this class.

2) Computer. Since no architecture, type, or any other characteristicsare specified, any computer, including any model of RS/6000, belongs tothis class.

3) Software product Ppppp.

4) Software product.

Primitive IT structures are indivisible only within a particular model.For example, a computer may be viewed as indivisible in the context ofthe model used in this embodiment. In a different embodiment, however, adifferent model may exist in which a computer may be represented as anIT structure (see discussion infra of a complex IT structure),comprising several primitive IT structures; e.g., the followingcollection of primitive IT structures: processor, memory, DASD, andnetwork interface.

A complex IT structure is a non-empty collection of IT structures, adefined set of relationships (see below) among these IT structures, anda description of this IT structure's characteristics. Examples of acomplex primitive IT structure include:

1) a personal computer

2) a network of Lotus Domino servers

3) a zSeries sysplex

4) a collection of programs running on a particular computer

5) a collection of software and hardware required to run Ariba Buyerapplication

6) a hosted application service (e.g., a service including a serviceprovider hosting an application; Ariba Buyer, in its data center, andproviding service customers access to the application through a network;Internet)

7) a professional service (e.g., a service including a service providerperform installation and configuration of an application; Ariba Buyer,at a service customer data center)

8) a network service (e.g., a service providing access to Internet at aspecified guaranteed minimum bandwidth)

9) a combined network/hosted application services (e.g., a serviceproviding access to Internet at a specified bandwidth and optionallyincluding web hosting such as hosting of customer's web pages accessedthrough Internet; and a hosted application service for e-mail).

In the process of formation of an IT structure, values of properties ofelements of this IT structure's composition (see below) may change;e.g., assignment of a name to a computer may be required to include thatcomputer in an IT structure.

The set of relationships is imposed by a particular IT structure, ratherthan being intrinsic for the primitive IT structures comprising the ITstructure. Thus, multiple complex IT structures may be created from thesame set of primitive IT structures, and uniqueness of the assigned name(i.e., its inequality to any other computer name) may be imposed on aprimitive IT structure representing a computer, included in a complex ITstructure.

An IT structure composition is the list of IT structures included in acomplex IT structure, or an out-of-model entity describing the entityrepresented by a primitive IT structure (e.g., a String, or a referenceto a DB record).

An IT structure composition element is an IT entity included in an ITstructure composition.

An IT structure primitive composition is the list of primitive ITstructures included in an IT structure, where all complex IT structuresare replaced with their respective primitive compositions.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the concept of IT structurecomposition, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Acomplex IT structure A 2701 includes in its composition 2703 two othercomplex IT structures B 2704 and C 2705, and one abstract primitive ITstructure D 2706. Complex IT structure B includes in its composition twoprimitive IT structures E 2708 and F 2709, and complex IT structure Cincludes in its composition two primitive IT structures, an abstractprimitive IT structure G 2710, and a primitive IT structure H 2711. Bothabstract primitive IT structures, D and H, represent theabstractPrimitive out-of-model entity 2712, while all other primitive ITstructures represent respective non-abstract out-of-model entities 2713,2714, 2715. The IT structure A primitive composition 2707 includes allprimitive IT structures shown (and no complex IT structures), namelyprimitive IT structures E 2708, F 2709, G 2710, H 2711, and D 2706.

An abstract IT structure is an IT structure whose composition includesat least one abstract IT entity. Examples of an abstract IT structureinclude:

1) An abstract IT structure may include an Intel computer with a single400 MHz Pentium processor, 1024 MB of main memory, 10 GB of DASD, and anEthernet network interface; however, since no particular model ofcomputer is specified, this IT structure would be abstract.

2) At a different (higher) level of abstraction, the same IT structuremay include just a computer, without specification of its technology orcharacteristics.

A virtual IT structure is a non-abstract IT structure whose compositionincludes at least one virtual IT entity.

A real IT structure is a non-abstract and non-virtual IT structure.

From the above definitions, it follows that a real IT structure onlyincludes real IT entities in its composition. From the abovedefinitions, it also follows that in a real IT structure, each IT entityin its composition uniquely corresponds to a physical IT entity.

Table 2 infra provides examples of IT structure composition.

TABLE 2 Examples of IT structure composition IT structure NetworkingComputers Software Labor Abstract IT network computer Ariba Buyerstructure with application high degree of abstraction Abstract IT TCP/IPplatform Ariba Buyer structure with network Application v7 low degree ofabstraction Virtual IT connectivity platform and Ariba Buyer v7 forinstallation and structure requirements associated parameters AIX onRS/6000 management (memory, processor power, DASD space) Delivery- LANmodel Ariba Buyer v7.02 for specific bound IT segments with AIX onRS/6000 installation structure symbolic IP activities; specificaddresses management activities Real IT LAN computer s/n Ariba Buyerv7.02 for skill level and structure segments with specified AIX onRS/6000, quantity of labor real IP license # <lic. #> by activityaddresses specified

An abstract IT structure with a high level of abstraction may be “anAriba Buyer application running on a computer, connected to a network”.The degree of abstraction can be lowered by restating the previousclause in more specific terms—“an Ariba Buyer application running on anRS/6000 computer, connected to a TCP/IP network”.

The corresponding virtual IT structure may be “an Ariba Buyer version7.0 for AIX on RS/6000 application, running on an AIX v5.0 operatingsystem and RS/6000 model F50 computer with one 320 MHz CPU, 640 KB ofmain memory, and 128 GB of DASD in a single disk, connected through a 10Gbps Ethernet LAN to a TCP/IP network—and—labor associated withinstallation and management of the above”.

Once resolved into a delivery-bound IT structure, the previous ITstructure may turn into something like “an Ariba Buyer version 7.0 pathlevel 17.2 for AIX on RS/6000 application, running on an AIX v5.0 patchlevel 5.0.3.2 operating system and RS/6000 model F50-3745 computer withone 320 MHz CPU, 640 KB of main memory, 128 GB of DASD in a single disk,and a NIC (network interface card), connected through a 10 Gbps EthernetLAN to a TCP/IP network on a single segment with a symbolic IP addressof a.b.c.d and specific installation and management activitiesassociated with the above.

Once deployed in a data center, the corresponding real IT structurewould be “an Ariba Buyer version 7.0 path level 17.2 for AIX on RS/6000application, license # 178215-04, running on an AIX v5.0 patch level5.0.3.2 operating system, license #514ABC-AE, and RS/6000 model F50-3745computer, s/n 6734-FWU, with one 320 MHz CPU, 640 KB of main memory, 128GB of DASD in a single disk, and a MC (network interface card),connected through a 10 Gbps Ethernet LAN to a TCP/IP network on a singlesegment with a symbolic IP address of a.b.c.d and specific installationand management activities associated with the above, including quantityof labor and level of skills for each.

A delivery-bound IT structure is a virtual IT structure ready forprovisioning in a particular delivery environment (see below) with noadditional input/sources of information. “In a particular deliveryenvironment” means “at the level of detail required by the provisioningprocess of the delivery environment”. For example, a delivery-bound ITstructure may include a specification of 10/100 Mbps Ethernet card,without regard to the manufacturer of that card.

An operating IT structure instance is a collection of physical hardware,software, networking, and labor, resulting from deployment of a real ITstructure.

2.2.1 ITStructure Class

n IT Structure is represented by a class ITStructure, which inheritsfrom ITEntity class and has the following methods:

1) ITStructure(String name, String function, Vector functions, VectoroperationalCharacteristics)—constructor

Note: Type is not specified for an ITStructure class—it is alwaysderived based on ITStructure composition using the type definition as arule.

2) Vector getFunctions( )—returns a list of functions (String) supportedby ITStructure (always non-null)

3) Vector setFunctions(Vector V)—adjusts IT structure for support of oneor more functions whose names were previously returned by getFunction( )method; the list V is a list of pairs (<function>,<value>), where<function> is one of the list returned by getFunction( ) method and<value> is the associated setting. The method returns an empty Vector ifthe method execution was successful, and a list of error messagesotherwise. If an error occurs, the method has not altered the ITstructure.

4) Vector getOperationalCharacteristics( )—returns a list of pairs ofnames (String) and values (String) of operational characteristics ofthis IT structure

5) Vector setOperationalCharacteristics(Vector V)—adjusts IT structureoperational characteristics as specified by the input parameters. Theinput parameter is a list of pairs of (operational characteristic name(String), characteristic value), where operational characteristic nameis one of the values returned by the getOperaitonalCharacteristics( )method, and characteristic value is specific to the operationalcharacteristic being modified. The list V corresponds to all of or asubset of the list returned by getOperationalCharacteristics( ) method.The method returns an empty Vector if the method execution wassuccessful, and a list of error messages otherwise. If an error occurs,the method has not altered the IT structure.

6) Vector getResolutionValues( )—returns a list of pairs of names(String) and values (String) of abstraction resolution parameters ofthis IT structure

7) JavaClass resolve(Vector V), where V is Vector of pairs (Stringresolution_parameter, value)—returns a less abstract ITStructureinstance, instantiated with the specified resolution parameters ifexecution was successful; returns a Vector of error messages if noresolution was possible (in which case the IT structure is leftunmodified)

8) boolean isPrimitive( )—returns true if this IT structure is primitive

9) boolean isComplex( )—returns true if this IT structure is complex

10) Vector getComposition([String C1[, C2 . . . [, Cn]]])—for a complexIT structure, returns list of other IT structures comprising this ITstructure; for a primitive IT structure, returns the list including theIT structure itself. The optional list of parameters C1 . . . Cn specifynames of ITStructure subclasses to be returned by the getcomposition( )method. If C1 . . . Cn are specified, only IT structures of subclasseswith names C1 . . . Cn will be returned by the getcomposition( ) method.

11) Vector getPrimitiveComposition([String C1[, C2 . . . [,Cn]]])—returns primitive composition of an IT; returns the IT structureitself if invoked for a primitive IT structure. The optional list ofparameters C1 . . . Cn specify names of ITStructure subclasses to bereturned by the getPrimitiveComposition( ) method. If C1 . . . Cn arespecified, only IT structures of subclasses with names C1 . . . Cn willbe returned by the getPrimitiveComposition( ) method.

12) Vector getInterfaces([String I1 [, I2 . . . [, In]]])—returns thelist of IT interfaces this IT structure possesses. The optional list ofparameters I1 . . . In specify names of ITInterface subclasses to bereturned by the getInterfaces( ) method. If I1 . . . In are specified,only IT interfaces of subclasses with names I1 . . . In will be returnedby the getInterfaces( ) method.

13) Vector getRelationships([String R1 [, R2 . . . [, Rn]]])—returns alist of IT relationships elements of this IT structure's composition areinvolved in; returns an empty Vector if no IT relationships exist amongelements of this IT structure's composition. The optional list ofparameters R1 . . . Rn specify names of ITRelationship subclasses to bereturned by the getRelationships( ) method. If R1 . . . Rn arespecified, only IT relationships of subclasses with names R1 . . . Rnwill be returned by the getRelationships( ) method.

14) Vector getPrimitiveRelationships([String R1 [, R2 . . . [,Rn]]])—returns a list of IT relationships elements of this ITstructure's primitive composition are involved in; returns an emptyVector if no IT relationships exist among elements of primitivecomposition of this IT structure. The optional list of parameters R1 . .. Rn specify names of ITRelationship subclasses to be returned by thegetPrimitiveRelationships( ) method. If R1 . . . Rn are specified, onlyIT relationships of subclasses with names R1 . . . Rn will be returnedby the getPrimitiveRelationships( ) method.

15) ITRelationship getRelationship(ITStructure A, ITStructure B)—returnsthe ITRelationship instance for relationship of IT structures A and Bwithin the composition of this IT structure or null if IT structures Aand B are not involved in an IT relationship

16) Vector setRelationship(ITStructure x, ITInterface xi, ITStructure y,ITInterface yi, Relationship r)—establishes the relationship r betweenIT structures x and y within the composition of this IT structure.Returns a null Vector if relationship was established successfully, anda Vector of error messages if relationship could not be established.

17) Vector setDependency({<add>|<remove>}, ITDependency x)—adds orremoves the specified IT dependency to or from this IT structure.Returns a null Vector if dependency was added or removed successfully,and a Vector of error messages if dependency could not be added. Removalof an IT dependency is always successful. Addition of an IT dependencymay fail if x contradicts an existing dependency—e.g., x indicatesmutual exclusivity with IT structure Y and a dependency on presence of Yis already stated.

18) Vector getDependencies([String D1 [, D2 . . . [, Dn]]])—returns alist of IT dependencies of this IT structure. The optional list ofparameters D1 . . . Dn specify names of ITDependency subclasses to bereturned by the getDependencies( ) method. If D1 . . . Dn are specified,only IT dependencies of subclasses with names D1 . . . Dn will bereturned by the getDependencies( ) method.

18a) Vector getPrimitiveDependencies([String D1 [, D2 . . . [,Dn]]])—returns a list of IT dependencies among the elements of the ITstructure primitive composition. The optional list of parameters D1 . .. Dn specify names of ITDependency subclasses to be returned by thegetPrimitiveDependencies( ) method. If D1 . . . Dn are specified, onlyIT dependencies of subclasses with names D1 . . . Dn will be returned bythe getPrimitiveDependencies( ) method.

19) Vector addElement(ITStructure A)—adds IT structure A to thecomposition of this IT structure. Returns a null Vector if addition wassuccessful, and a Vector of error messages if addition failed. In orderto ensure uniqueness of identifiers (computer names, network addresses)within IT structures, each identifier within IT structure A being addedis prefixed with string A.getName( )+“.”. As a part of the additionprocess, addElement( ) method verifies that:

a. addition of IT structure A to the composition of this IT structuredoes not violate any IT dependencies for any IT structure alreadyincluded in the composition of this IT structure

b. addition of IT structure A to the composition of this IT structuredoes not violate any IT dependencies for IT structure A and ensures thatIT dependencies of the IT structure being added are satisfied. Eachadded IT structure composition element's name is prefixed with the ITstructure name to ensure uniqueness.

20) Vector ensureDependencies(ITStructure A)—ensures that ITdependencies of the class requiresPresenceOf of ITStructure A in thecomposition of this IT structure are satisfied. If processing isunsuccessful, a Vector of error message(s) is returned, otherwise, anull Vector is returned.

21) Vector deleteElement(ITStructure A [, <force>])—removes IT structureA from the composition of this IT structure. Returns a null Vector ifremoval was successful, and a Vector of error messages if removalfailed. <force> indicates that A should be removed regardless ofrelationships with or dependencies on it by other elements of this ITstructure's composition.

22) Vector setOptimizationFunctions(Vector F)—specifies a prioritizedlist (starting with the highest priority and ending with the lowest) ofoptimization classes (see Optimization) to be applied to this ITstructure. Returns a null Vector if processing is successful, and aVector of error messages otherwise.

23) Vector getOptimizationFunctions( )—returns the prioritized list ofoptimization classes to be applied to this IT structure.

24) Vector optimize( )—performs optimization of the IT structure usingthe specified prioritized list of optimization classes and applying eachoptimization function to the IT structure in turn, starting with thehighest and ending with the lowest priority of optimization classes.Returns a Vector, containing the optimized IT structure as its firstelement if optimization was successful, and a list of error messagesotherwise.

25) Vector setTargetITDeliveryEnvironments(Vector D)—specifies a list oftarget IT delivery environments (see below) for this IT structure.Returns a list of error messages if an error occurs (e.g., invalidspecification of a target IT delivery environment), and a null Vectorotherwise.

26) Vector getTargetITDeliveryEnvironments( )—returns the list of targetIT delivery environments for this IT structure.

27) getID( )-returns a real IT structure's unique identifier; returnsnull if invoked for a non-real IT structure.

28) setID( )—sets real IT structure unique identifier; NOOP for anon-real IT structure.

29) Vector SLmaintenance(Vector V)—optional, supported for Autonomic ITSystem Improvement Cycle (see below); obtains a list of pairs ofoperational characteristics and associated values provided by monitoringfacilities, and performs adjustment of the operational characteristicsto sustain the SL. Returns a null Vector if processing is successful anda list of error messages if processing is unsuccessful.

2.2.2 Detailed Description of Non-Trivial Methods

2.2.2.1 SETFUNCTIONS

A composition of an IT structure instance and relationships amongelements of its composition may depend on particular function(s) this ITstructure instance is intended to perform. The purpose of this method isto perform the necessary adjustments within IT structure instance thattailor IT structure composition and relationships among composition'selements as appropriate. This method also performs enforcement offunction-specific rules.

The setFunctions( ) method is subclass-specific. Class ITStructureincludes a placeholder that does nothing other than store the specifiedbusiness function. ITStructure examples include:

1) IT structure X has three functions—A, B, C. However, these functionscannot be fulfilled indiscriminately (by their nature)—either A, or Band/or C, but not A and B, A and C, or A, B, and C can be supported byany instance of IT structure X. The setFunctions( ) method, wheninvoked, would ensure proper combination of functions requested from theinstance of X, and prohibit improper modifications in the future.

2) Composition of instance of X may depend on the functions it performs.To perform function A, X may need to include an Intel server runningWindows OS, an Oracle DB and a specific program package supportingfunction A. To perform functions B or C, X may need to include anRS/6000 server (whose power depends on whether only one of functions Band C, or both of these functions are supported), with a DB2 DB andspecific program packages supporting functions B or C. So, thecomposition of X will be altered by the setFunctions( ) methodappropriately, based on specification of functions.

2.2.2.2 SETOPERATIONALCHARACTERISTICS

A composition of an IT structure instance and relationships amongelements of its composition, given a particular set of functionssupported by the IT structure instance, may depend on operationalcharacteristics associated with support of particular functions. Thepurpose of this method is to perform the necessary adjustments within ITstructure instance that tailor IT structure composition andrelationships among composition's elements as appropriate. This methodalso performs enforcement of operational-characteristic-specific rules.

The setOperationalCharacteristics( ) method is subclass-specific. ClassITStructure includes a placeholder that does nothing other than storethe specified operational characteristic values.

EXAMPLES

1) IT structure X function A potentially supports up to 500 users. Itsresponse time depends on the power and amount of memory of the processorthat runs function A and an increment in the number of supported userscan be translated into a processor power and memory increments. Aninstance of X is created, whose requirement is to support up to 200users. setOperationalCharacteristics(new Vector(“users”, 200)) can beused to specify that number and adjust the configuration of the Intelserver supporting function A in the composition of instance of X toensure it supports the required number of users.

2) Availability of IT structure X instance supporting function A may be80% or 99.8%, depending on configuration of processors and softwaresupporting function A. If a single set of hardware and software elementssupport function A, availability is 80%; if supporting hardware andsoftware are duplicated and appropriate monitoring software is added topermit takeover between the two sets of hardware and software,availability is 99.8%. setOperationalCharacteristics(newVector(“availability”, “high”)) can be used to indicate that instance ofX when supporting function A must provide 99.8% availability.

3) The above operational characteristics settings may be combined:setOperationalCharacteristics(new Vector((“users”, 200),(“availability”, “high”)))

2.2.2.3 RESOLVE

A composition of an IT structure instance and relationships amongelements of its composition, given a particular set of functionssupported by the IT structure instance and given a particular set ofoperational characteristics associated with support of the particularset of functions, may depend on additional factors. A purpose of thismethod is to perform the necessary adjustments within IT structureinstance that tailor IT structure composition and relationships amongcomposition's elements as appropriate.

The resolve( ) method is subclass-specific. Class ITStructure includes aplaceholder that does nothing other than store the specified resolutionvalues.

Example: Two hardware and operating systems platforms exist that provideequivalent (both in terms of scale and cost) performance, permitting aninstance of IT structure X to support the required number of users withequivalent operational characteristics for its function A. For example,the choice of either of the two hardware and operating system platformsfor the composition of an instance of IT structure X providing functionA will produce an equivalent result. Further, the delivery environmentin which the instance of X will operate, support both combinations ofhardware and operating system with equivalent costs and service levels.The resolve( ) method may be used to specify which of the twocombinations of hardware and operating system platforms to use based onother factors. For example, IT developer's preference or similarity withhardware and operating system platforms of other IT structures involvedin a solution.

Assume the two combinations of hardware and operating system platformsare (a) AIX on RS/6000 and (b) Linux on Intel. So, IT structure X mayprovide a resolution characteristic “platform preference” which may bespecified as “AIX” or “Linux”, resulting in the choice of (a) or (b) forthe instance of IT structure X.

2.2.2.4 SETRELATIONSHIP

Once an IT structure is added to the composition of the IT structurebeing developed, the developer may specify IT relationships between theadded IT structure and other elements of the composition or primitivecomposition of the IT structure being developed.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting the logic of setRelationship( ) method,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The VectorsetRelationship(ITStructure x, ITInterface xi, ITStructure y,ITInterface yi, Relationship r) establishes the relationship r betweenIT structures x and y within the composition of this IT structure. ThesetRelationship( ) method returns a null Vector if relationship wasestablished successfully, and a Vector of error messages if relationshipcould not be established. The setRelationship( ) method for ITStructureinstance X is invoked with parameters ITStructure A, ITInterface AI,ITStructure B, ITInterface BI, ITRelationship R 2101. The methodattempts to find IT structure A in the composition of X 2102. If ITstructure A is not found in the composition of X 2103, an error messageis returned 2104 and processing terminates. The method then attempts tofind IT structure B in the composition of X 2105. If IT structure B isnot found in the composition of X 2106, an error message is returned2107 and processing terminates. The method then proceeds to finding ITinterface AI in the list of IT interfaces of IT structure instance A2108. If AI is not found 2109, an error message is returned 2110 andprocessing terminates. The method then attempts to find IT interface BIin the list of IT interfaces of IT structure instance B 2111. If BI isnot found 2112, an error message is returned 2113 and processingterminates.

Upon ascertaining presence of both specified IT structure instances Aand B and IT interfaces AI and BI within A and B, the method executionenters a critical section 2114 which is used to serialize updates to theIT interface states. A critical section is a portion of the method whichcannot be executed concurrently in a multi-threaded fashion, and entryto which must be serialized. No particular method of serialization forcritical sections of programs is prescribed by this embodiment—knownmethods include (but are not limited to) semaphores, process queues,process locks, TS (Test and Set) instruction, CS (Compare and Swap)instruction.

The method then checks availability of IT interface AI by invoking thegetAvailable( ) method of IT interface AI; if AI is unavailable 2115, anerror message is returned 2116, previously entered critical section isexited 2124, and processing terminates. The method proceeds to checkingavailability of IT interface BI by invoking the getAvailable( ) methodof IT interface BI; if BI is unavailable 2117, an error message isreturned 2118, previously entered critical section is exited 2124, andprocessing terminates.

Upon ascertaining availability of both AI and BI interfaces, the methodattempts to relate IT interfaces AI and BI. Vector x is allocated (notshown in the figure) to contain error message strings from attempts toestablish the interface between AI and BI. The method attempts to updateIT interface AI as interfacing with IT interface BI by invoking AImethod establishInterface(BI), passing it BI as the parameter 2119. Ifan error occurs during the establishInterface(BI) method of AIinvocation 2120, Vector x contains error messages, which are returned tothe invoker of setRelationship( ) method of IT structure instance X 2121upon exiting the critical section 2124. The method then attempts toupdate IT interface BI as interfacing with IT interface AI by invokingBI method establishInterface(AI), passing it AI as the parameter 2122.If an error occurs during the establishInterface(BI) method of AIinvocation 2123, Vector x contains error messages, which are returned tothe invoker of setRelationship( ) method of IT structure instance X 2121upon exiting the critical section 2124, but only after the error cleanupis performed and the previously established update of IT interface AI isreversed by invoking its method setAvailable(BI) 2125.

If interface establishment was successful, IT relationship R is updatedto contain the interface AI and BI 2125 prior to completion of methodexecution.

2.2.2.5 ADDELEMENT

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting the logic of addElement( ) method, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The VectoraddElement(ITStructure A) method adds IT structure A to the compositionof IT structure X. The IT structures A and X may each independently bean abstract IT structure, a virtual IT structure, or a real ITstructure. However, the resulting IT structure will have the highestdegree of abstraction of that of X and A. For example, if X is abstractthe result will be abstract even if A is not abstract, and if A isabstract the result will be abstract even if X is not abstract. Asanother example, if either X or A is virtual, and both X and A are notabstract, the result will be virtual.

The addElement( ) method returns a null Vector if addition wassuccessful, and a Vector of error messages if addition failed. TheaddElement( ) method of ITStructure instance X is invoked with parameterITStructure A, referencing the ITStructure instance to be added to X'scomposition 2201. The method retrieves composition of X as a Vector C2202. If C is null (there are no composition elements for X) 2203, thisis the addition of the first element, and no additional checks arenecessary. The method creates a composition Vector C for X 2204, addsITStructure A to C 2205, and returns.

If ITStructure X is a primitive IT structure (X.isPrimitive( )=true)2243, an error message is stored 2244 and processing terminates.

If ITStructure X already has non-empty composition 2203, the methoditerates through X's composition elements making sure no IT dependenciesof either X or A are violated by the addition of A to X. While there areelements in C 2206, the next unprocessed element E of C is obtained2207, and its list of IT dependencies De is extracted using thegetDependencies( ) method of E 2208.

While there are unprocessed elements in De (list of IT dependencies ofITStructure E) 2209, the following is performed. A critical section isentered 2210. The next element d of De is obtained 2211. If d (whichbelongs to the class ITDependency) indicates exclusion with class Y andIT structure A belongs to class Y or its subclass 2212, an error messageis stored 2213, and upon exiting from the critical section 2214,processing terminates. Otherwise, critical section is exited 2215.

The method execution then proceeds to obtaining the list Da of ITdependencies of A using the getDependencies( ) method of A 2216. Whilethere are unprocessed elements in Da (list of IT dependencies ofITStructure A) 2217, the following is performed. A critical section isentered 2218. The next element d of Da is obtained 2219. If d (whichbelongs to the class ITDependency) indicates exclusion with class Z andIT structure E belongs to class Z or its subclass 2220, an error messageis stored 2213, and upon exiting from the critical section 2214,processing terminates. Otherwise, critical section is exited 2222.

When all possible combinations of potential dependencies of IT structureA and all elements of the composition of X are exhausted, and noviolation has been found, the addElement( ) method invokes methodensureDependencies(A) 2245 to ensure that any of A's IT dependencies ofthe class requiresPresenceOf are satisfied. If ensureDependencies( )method's processing was not successful 2246, any error messages returnedby the ensureDependencies( ) method's invocation are returned,otherwise, A is added to the composition A is added to the composition Cof IT structure X 2205.

2.2.2.6 ENSUREDEPENDENCIES

FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting the logic of ensureDependencies( )method, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. TheensureDependencies(ITStructure A) method ensures that IT dependencies ofthe class requiresPresenceOf of ITStructure A in the composition of thisIT structure are satisfied. If processing is unsuccessful, a Vector oferror message(s) is returned, otherwise, a null Vector is returned. TheensureDependencies( ) method is invoked for IT structure instance X withparameter ITStructure A 2601. The method retrieves composition of X asVector C 2602 and the list of A's IT dependencies, from which it selectsa subset (list D) of IT dependencies of class requiresPresenceOf 2603.The method then iterates through list D of IT dependencies of classrequiresPresenceOf of IT structure A, until the end of the list isreached 2604. Each element d of list D is an IT dependency d of classrequiresPresenceOf. The method retrieves the next element d from thelist 2605 and attempts to find an element of C (IT structure Xcomposition) that satisfies the IT dependency d 2606. If an element E ofC satisfying IT dependency d is found 2607, IT dependency d isconsidered to be satisfied.

ensureDependencies( ) method then creates an abstract IT structure E ofITStructure subclass that satisfies IT dependency d 2608 and attempts toadd E to the composition of IT structure X using a recursive invocationof X.addElement(E) 2609. If execution of X.addElement(E) failed (i.e., Ecould not be added to X's composition—e.g., because it is exclusive withsome element of X's composition) 2610, any error messages returned byX.addElement(E) are returned 2611 and processing terminates. Otherwise,addition of E to X's composition was successful, IT dependency d is nowconsidered to be satisfied.

An abstract IT relationship (defaultRelationship) between E (eitherfound in the composition C of IT structure X, or newly created) and Ausing defaultInterface of both is created and added to IT structure X)2612. If establishment of the IT relationship was unsuccessful 2613,error message(s) are returned to the invoker 2611. If E was newly added2614, it is removed 2615 to maintain the composition of IT structure Xunchanged.

If establishment of the new IT relationship was successful 2613, thenext element d of A's dependencies is considered.

2.2.2.7 DELETEELEMENT

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting the logic of deleteElement( ) method,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. ThedeleteElement(ITStructure A [, <force>]) method removes IT structure Afrom the composition of this IT structure. Returns a null Vector ifremoval was successful, and a Vector of error messages if removalfailed. <force> indicates that A should be removed regardless ofrelationships with or dependencies on it by other elements of this ITstructure's composition. In a first embodiment the <force> option isavailable for being selected, and in a second embodiment the <force>option is not available for being selected. Thus, the <force> option maynot be specified because: (1) the <force> option is not available forbeing selected or (2) the <force> option is available for being selectedbut was not selected. The deleteElement( ) method is invoked for ITstructure instance X with parameter ITStructure A and an optionalspecification of<force> 2301. The method retrieves composition of X asVector C 2302 and attempts to find IT structure A in C 2303. If A is notfound in C 2304, an error message is stored 2305 and processingterminates. Otherwise, the method proceeds through the attempt to removeA from C.

The method builds the list R of IT relationships of elements of C thatinvolve A 2306. If R is not null (i.e., A is involved in ITrelationships with at least one other element of composition of X) 2307,the method checks whether the <force> option was specified 2308, and ifnot, A cannot be removed from the composition of X, an error message isstored 2309, and processing terminates. If, however, <force> wasspecified, the method removes all IT relationships in the list R andremoves them from the list of IT relationships of elements of C 2310.

The method then proceeds to check IT dependencies involving A. Themethod builds a list D of all dependencies of elements of C other than Aitself on A 2311. If the list D is not null 2312, for each dependency inlist D, the method attempts to find an element in C other than A thatwould satisfy the dependency 2316. If replacements were not found forany dependencies in list D 2317, the method checks whether the <force>option was specified 2313, and if not, A cannot be removed from thecomposition of X, an error message is stored 2314, and processingterminates.

Otherwise, if all previous checks indicate that removal of A will notdamage IT structure X, or if the <force> option specification overridesthe possible damage, the method removes A from C 2315.

2.3 IT Interfaces

An IT Interface is a characteristic of an IT structure, specifying atype of relationship this IT structure can engage in relative to otherIT structures.

An abstract IT interface instance is an IT interface instance involvingat least one abstract IT structure.

A virtual IT interface instance is a non-abstract IT interface instanceinvolving at least one virtual IT structure.

A real IT interface instance is an IT interface instance involving onlyreal IT structures.

A multi-connection IT interface is an IT interface to which multiple ITstructures can relate (connect). For example, multiple invokers can calla single program—sometimes, concurrently.

A single-connection IT interface is an IT interface to which a single ITstructure can relate (connect). For example, only a single cable can beplugged into a single printer port of a personal computer.

An available IT interface is an IT interface to which one or more ITstructures can relate (connect).

A busy or Unavailable IT interface is an IT interface which hasexhausted its ability to relate, and cannot be involved in anyadditional relationships (i.e., the maximum number of relationships havealready been established). For example, a printer port of a personalcomputer is available if nothing is connected to it, andbusy/unavailable if a printer cable is plugged into it.

2.3.1 ITInterface Class

An ITInterface class inherits from ITEntity class and has the followingmethods:

1) ITInterface(String name, Type type)—constructor, creates anITInterface instance with specified name and type

2) boolean isSingleConnection( )—returns true if this ITInterface is asingle-connection IT interface, and false otherwise

3) boolean isAvailable([int p])—returns true if ITInterface isavailable, false otherwise; optional parameter p indicates the specificconnection for a multi-connection interface

4) setAvailable([ITInterface i])—makes ITInterface available; anITInterface parameter i may be specified for multi-connection ITinterfaces to indicate which of the multiple connections is to be madeavailable

5) Vector establishInterface(ITInterface i[, int p])—establishes aninterface with the parameter IT interface; returns an empty Vector ifinterface was established successfully, and a list of error messagesotherwise. For a multiple-connection IT interface, may be optionallyprovided with the second parameter p specifying the connection.

6) int getAvailable( )—for multi-connection IT interfaces returns thenumber of available connections; always returns zero (unavailable) orone (available) for single-connection IT interfaces; always returns“high integer” for multi-connection IT interfaces with unlimited numberof connections

7) int getRelated( )—returns the number of ITInterface instances relatedto this ITInterface

8) Vector getRelatedITInterfaces( )—returns a list of zero or moreITInterface instances related to this ITInterface

9) Vector verifyValidity(ITInterface Y)—returns null Vector if aconnection between this IT interface instance and IT interface instanceY would be valid—i.e., the ITInterface subclass of this instancecorrelates with the ITInterface subclass of ITInterface instance Y;returns a Vector containing error message(s) if subclasses of X and Y donot correlate.

Note that the verifyValidity( ) method is a NOOP in the ITInterfaceclass—each subclass of ITInterface, with the exception ofDefaultInterface, overrides this method with the appropriate logic. Alsonote that an ITInterface cannot be instantiated—only ITInterfacesubclasses have practical uses.

2.3.2 ITInterface Subclasses

A number of different interfaces may exist among IT structures. Each ITstructure, by definition, includes the DefaultInterface, which is usedto establish relationships not involving real interfaces, such as“requires presence of . . . to install”. DefaultInterface supports anyrelationships.

Other ITInterface subclasses are (“correlates” in this context means“can only be related to”):

InstalledOn(<single>) - IT structure is installed using this interface(correlates with Supports) Supports({<single>|{multiple>}) - ITstructure(s) can be installed on this interface (correlates withInstallsOn) ConnectsTo(<connection type>,{<single>|<multiple>}) - canconnect to IT structure(s) using <connection type>, correlates withConnectsTo where: <connection type>::= { <direct> | <network> |<messaging> | <other>) Invokes(<invocation type>, <single>) - can invokeIT structure using <invocation type>, correlates with InvokableInvocable(<invocation type>, {<single>|<multiple>}) - can be invoked byIT structure(s) using <invocation type>, correlates with Invokes where:<invocation type)::= { <direct> | <interrupt> | <other> }Manages({<single>|<multiple>}) - is managing IT structure(s), correlateswith Manageable Manageable(<single>) - is managed by IT structure,correlates with Manages

Table 3 shows valid ITInterface subclass correlations, wherein “yes”denotes a pair of correlated IT interfaces.

TABLE 3 Interface correlations Default Installed Connects Interface OnSupports To Invokes Invocable Manages Manageable DefaultInterface yesyes yes yes yes yes yes yes InstalledOn yes yes Supports yes yesConnectsTo yes yes Invokes yes yes Invocable yes yes Manages yes yesManageable yes yes

The IT interface subclasses are summarized as follows in terms of IT1,IT2, IF1, and IF2:

-   IT1: IT structure 1-   IT2: IT structure 2-   IF1:interface of IT structure 1-   IF2: interface of IT structure 2-   1) Installed On: a characteristic of IF1 permitting IT1 to be    installed on IT2-   2) Supports: a characteristic of IF2 permitting IT1 to be installed    on IT2-   3) ConnectsTo: a characteristic of IF1 permitting IT1 to connect to    IT2-   4) Invokes: a characteristic of EF1 permitting IT1 to invoke IT2-   5) Invocable: a characteristic of IF2 permitting IT2 to be invoked    by IT1-   6) Manages: a characteristic of IF1 permitting IT1 to manage IT2-   7) Manageable: a characteristic of EF2 permitting IT2 to be managed    by IT1

Examples of IT interfaces are as follows:

-   A program is installed on a computer-   A computer supports one or more programs to be installed on the    computer-   Computer A connects to computer B through a network-   Program A invokes program B-   Program B is invocable by program A-   Program A manages system B

System B is manageable by program A

In this embodiment, labor entities are associated with other entities bymeans of defaultInterface and defaultITRelationship. In anotherembodiment, a special ITInterface, laborInterface, may be defined, andused to comprise a laborRelationship to relate a labor entity to anotherentity.

2.3.3 Detailed Description of Non-Trivial Methods

2.3.3.1 SETAVAILABLE

FIG. 5 is a flow chart, depicting the logic of setAvailable( ) method,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. ThesetAvailable([ITInterface i]) method makes ITInterface available; anITInterface parameter i may be specified for multi-connection ITinterfaces to indicate which of the multiple connections is to be madeavailable. The setAvailable( ) method is invoked for ITInterfaceinstance X with an optional parameter ITInterface i 2401. If ITinterface instance X is a single-connection IT interface(X.isSingleConnection( ) returns true) 2402, the field interfacingWithin ITInterface X is set to null 2403, and the count of IT interfaces Xis interfacing with is set to zero 2404. Note that it is theresponsibility of the invoker to ensure that the corresponding ITinterface that was interfacing with X (if any) also becomes available.

If ITInterface X is a multiple-connection IT interface 2402, processingensures that a parameter i is passed, indicating which connection out ofthe multitude to make available. If parameter i is not passed 2411, andan error is signaled 2412, and processing terminates. The mechanism ofsignaling an error may vary, depending on implementation, and mayinclude, but is not limited to, an error message, an exception, anABEND, a log and/or a trace entry.

Upon ascertaining availability of parameter i 2311, processing enters acritical section 2405. ITInterface i passed as the parameter to methodsetavaliable( ) is located in the array of IT interfaces ITInterface Xis interfacing with 2406. If i is not found 2407, processing terminatesafter exiting a critical section 2410. If i is found 2407, the methodsets the entry in the array of IT interfaces ITInterface X isinterfacing with that corresponds to i to null 2408, decrements thecount of IT interfaces X is interfacing with 2409, and exits thecritical section 2410.

2.3.3.2 ESTABLISHINTERFACE

FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting the logic of establishInterface( )method, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. TheestablishInterface(ITInterface i [, int p]) method establishes aninterface with the parameter IT interface; returns an empty Vector ifinterface was established successfully, and a list of error messagesotherwise. The establishInterface( ) method is invoked for ITInterfaceinstance X with a parameter ITInterface Y and an optional parameterinteger p 2501.

The method starts by verifying validity of establishment of connectionbetween X and Y (by invoking methodX.verilyValidity(Y)) 2502. Ifestablishment of connection between X and Y is invalid(X.verifyValidity(Y) returns error message(s)) 2503, methodestablishInterface( ) returns the error message(s) returned byX.verifyValidity(Y) invocation 2504 and terminates processing.

If ITInterface X is a single-connection interface 2505, but X isavailable 2506, method establishInterface( ) returns and error message2507 and terminates processing. Otherwise, if X is a single-connectioninterface 2505 and X is available 2506, a critical section is entered2508 the interfacingWith reference of ITInterface X is set to Y 2509,the count of IT interfaces X is connected with is set to one 2510, thecritical section is exited 2511, and processing completes successfully.

For a multiple-connection ITInterface X 2505, critical section isentered 2512. If the optional parameter p was specified on invocation ofmethod establishInterface( ) 2513, but p-th entry of X's array ofconnections is not null (X.isAvailable(p)-false), indicating that thep-th connection of X is unavailable 2514, an error message is stored2515, the critical section is exited 2511, and processing terminates.If, on the other hand, the p-th connection of X is available 2514, thep-th entry in X's array of connections is set to Y 2516.

If the optional parameter p was not specified on invocation of methodestablishInterface( ) 2513, an attempt is made to find an available(null) entry in X's array of connections 2519. If an available entry isfound 2521, the found entry is set to Y 2520, otherwise an error messageis stored 2522, and processing terminates after exiting the criticalsection 2511.

If a connection was established 2516 2520, if ITInterface X does notsupport an unlimited number of connections 2517, the count ofconnections of X is incremented 2518. The method establishInterface( )then exits the critical section 2511 and completes its processing.

2.4 IT Relationships

An IT Relationship is a pair of associated (established) IT interfacesbelonging to two different IT structure instances. Note that the notionof IT relationship is introduced for convenience. This notion is notabsolutely necessary for the model, since a pair of established ITinterfaces can always be considered in and of itself, but ITrelationships represent a convenient way of tracking interfacing ITstructure pairs.

A symmetric IT relationship is an IT relationship, involving ITinterfaces of identical class. Examples of a symmetric IT relationshipinclude:

1) IT structure A uses ConnectsTo interface to relate to IT structure B,and IT structure B uses ConnectsTo interface to relate to IT structureA.

2) IT structure A uses DefaultInterface to relate to IT structure B, andIT structure B uses DefaultInterface to relate to IT structure A.

An asymmetric IT relationship is an IT relationship, involving ITinterfaces of different classes. As an example, IT structure AInstallsOn IT structure B, while IT structure B Supports IT structure A.

An abstract IT relationship instance is an IT relationship interfaceinstance involving at least one abstract IT interface instance.

A virtual IT relationship instance is a non-abstract IT relationshipinstance involving at least one virtual IT interface.

A real IT relationship instance is an IT relationship instance involvingonly real IT interface instances.

2.4.1 ITRelationship Class

ITRelationship class inherits from ITEntity class and has the followingmethods:

1) ITRelationship(String name, Type type[, ITInterface A,B])—constructor, establishes a relationship <name> of type <type> usingIT interfaces A and B, or defaultInterface if A and B are not specified.

2) boolean isSymmetric( )—returns true if relationship is symmetric,false otherwise

3) [ ] ITInterface getRelatedITInterfaces( )—returns the pair ofITInterface instances involved in a relationship

ITRelationship cannot be instantiated—only ITRelationship subclasseshave practical uses.

2.4.2 ITRelationship Subclasses

Subclasses of the ITRelationship class are predicated by the types of ITinterfaces included in the model. The following IT relationships mayexist given the types of IT interfaces defined above:

-   -   DefaultITRelationship—two IT structures are related in an        unidentified way    -   InstallationIrRelationship—IT structure 1 is installed on IT        structure 2    -   CommunicationITRelationship(<connection type>)—IT structure 1        communicates to IT structure 2 using <connection type>    -   InvocationITRelationship(<invocation type>)—IT structure 1        invokes IT structure 2    -   ManagementITRelationship—IT structure 1 manages IT structure 2        2.5 IT Dependencies

An IT dependency is a characteristic of an ITStructure class, indicatingrequirements of this ITStructure class instances for presence or absenceof this or other ITStructure class instances.

A symmetric IT dependency is an IT dependency which can be applied toITStructure subclasses involved, regardless of the order of ITStructuresubclasses in the IT dependency predicate. For example, IT structure Adepends on Ir structure B, and IT structure B depends on IT structure Ain the same way. The order of A and B in the previous sentence may bereversed without a change in meaning of the sentence.

An asymmetric IT dependency is a non-symmetric IT dependency (i.e., itcannot be applied to ITStructure subclasses involved regardless of theirorder in the IT dependency predicate). For example: IT structure Adepends on IT structure B, but IT structure B does not depend on ITstructure A.

2.5.1 ITDependency Class

ITDependency class inherits from ITEntity class and has the followingmethods:

1) ITDependency(String name, String A, B)—constructor, establishes adependency of ITStructure subclass A on ITStructure subclass B, where Aand B are names of subclasses.

2) boolean isSymmetric( )—returns true if relationship is symmetric,false otherwise

3) [ ] String getDependentClasses( )—returns the pair of names ofITStructure subclasses involved in an IT dependency.

ITDepdendency cannot be instantiated—only ITDependency subclasses havepractical uses.

2.5.2 ITDependency Subclasses

A number of different dependencies may exist among IT structurescomprising (i.e., included in a complex IT structure's composition) orpotentially comprising an IT structure (i.e., having a potential ofbeing included in a complex IT structure's composition). For thepurposes of this definition, the following dependencies (ITDependencysubclasses) are considered (i.e., other dependencies may be defined asappropriate for the structural model):

1) RequiresPresenceOf—as in “IT structure 1 requires presence of ITstructure 2”

2) ExclusiveWith—Negation of 1—as in “IT structure 1 is exclusive withIT structure 2”, IT structure 1 cannot be installed or operate in thepresence of IT structure 2

In this embodiment, no difference is made between requirement ofpresence for installation and requirement of presence for operation, andthe corresponding exclusivity. In another embodiment, such distinctioncould be made.

2.6 IT Delivery Environment

An IT delivery environment (or delivery environment) is a collection ofrules, policies, practices, and associated support functions, includinglabor, physical space, power supply, hardware, software, networking, andmanagement facilities involved in operating a data center, as well asmeans of provisioning and deployment of the aforementioned supportfunctions. IT delivery environment also includes a collection of alldelivery-bound real IT structures operating in it or in process of beingdeployed.

IT delivery environment may be null if every IT structure in it operatesindependently, does not use any data center services, no data centerinfrastructure exist, and no rules or standards are imposed on ITstructures by the delivery environment. For example: a stand-alonepersonal computer is operated in a null IT delivery environment.

A delivery-bound IT structure is a virtual IT structure that can beprovisioned and deployed in a particular IT delivery environment.

2.6.1 ITDeliveryEnvironment Class

ITDeliveryEnvironment class inherits from ITStructure and is always acomplex IT structure. ITDeliveryEnvironment composition includes all ITstructures deployed in the delivery environment. ITDeliveryEnvironmentcomposition may (and normally would) also include one or more ITstructures representing data center infrastructure.

Unlike ITStructure, ITDeliveryEnvironment permits an emptycomposition—empty composition is valid for the null IT deliveryenvironment.

In addition to the standard ITStructure methods, ITDeliveryEnvironmentincludes the following methods:

1) Vector verifyConformance(ITStructure A)—verifies conformance of an ITstructure to the rules of the IT delivery environments. Returns an emptyVector if the parameter IT structure conforms to the IT deliveryenvironment rules, and a Vector containing a list of error messagestrings if the parameter IT structure does not conform to the ITdelivery environment rules. This method is a NOOP for the null ITdelivery environment.

Example: A set of product standards may be established by a data center,such that for certain types of products only products included in thestandard set may be used—e.g., operating systems may be restricted toUNIX, and Windows; e.g., UNIX hardware platforms may be restricted toRS/6000 model F50 or H50 and no other computer may be used to run UNIX.verifyConformance( ) method in this case would examine the compositionof its parameter IT structure (recursively, if the parameter ITstructure is complex) and ensure that it only includes products foroperating systems and hardware platform for UNIX that are either withinthe established set of standards or have higher level of abstractionthan specific operating system and specific type of hardware.

2) Vector addElement({<new>|<update>}, ITStructure A)—overrides theparent class addElement( ) method; performs delivery binding of avirtual IT structure. Returns a Vector containing a delivery-bound ITstructure as the first element if delivery binding is successful, and alist of error messages otherwise. This method is a NOOP (i.e., returnsthe input virtual IT structure as the first element of the returnedVector) for the null IT delivery environment. <new>or <update> inputparameter may be specified to indicate whether this is a binding of anewly added IT structure, or an update of an existing IT structure.

3) Vector deploy({<new>|<update>}, ITStructure A)—initiates deploymentof a delivery-bound IT structure. Returns a Vector containing errormessages if processing is unsuccessful, and a null Vector otherwise.<new> or <update> input parameter may be specified to indicate whetherthis is a deployment of a new IT structure, or a change to an existingIT structure.

Note that all methods of ITDeliveryEnvironment class aresubclass-specific. Class ITDeliveryEnvironment includes NOOPplaceholders.

2.7 Extending Entity Model

The above model provides a foundation for building an IT class library.However, it is highly abstract and insufficient for effective modelingof IT. A set of general extensions, with its classes inheriting from theappropriate base IT classes, defining basic IT constructs, such ascomputers or network devices, is required as further foundation. Suchextended class libraries exist—e.g., Common Information Model (CIM).

Another example of such class hierarchy is described in FIG. 18, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 18 is anexample of a set of extensions going from the class hierarchy origin(ITEntity) down to a set of specific computer models shown at a lowesthierarchical level as the virtual IT structures RS/6000 model F30,RS/6000 model F50, and RS/6000 model H50. FIG. 18 also showsintermediate hierarchical levels having successively lower degrees ofabstraction. For example, consider the following example path throughthe hierarchical representation shown in FIG. 18: ITStructure, device,Identifiable Device, computer, IBM xSeries, RS/6000, RS/6000 model F50.In the preceding example, device is less abstract than ITStructure,IdentifiableDevice is less abstract than device, computer is lessabstract than IBMxSeries, IBMxSeries is less abstract than RS/6000, andRS/6000 is less abstract than RS/6000 model F50. The lowest level ITstructure of RS/6000 model F50 is a virtual IT structural, though notdelivery bound.

The present invention discloses a translator (see Section 2.10 infra) totranslate the abstract IT structure at the highest level (denoted asITStrucure) to the virtual IT structures RS/6000 model F30, RS/6000model F50, and RS/6000 model H50. To effectuate such translation, all ofthe intermediate IT structures shown in FIG. 18 may be stepped throughin order to arrive at the final virtual IT structures (e.g., RS/6000model F30, RS/6000 model F50, RS/6000 model H50, etc.). In someembodiments, however, the designer may provide sufficient inputdescription (typically stored in libraries) so that the translator maynot have to step through all of the intermediate IT structures shown inFIG. 18 to arrive at the final virtual IT structures. For example, arequirement that a particular IT structure can store and executesoftware may imply that the particular IT structure is a computer, sothat the intermediate levels of device and IdentifiableDevice in thepreceding example path could be skipped by the translator.

Although each IT structure box in FIG. 18 is a primitive IT structure, abox appearing in the hierarchy of FIG. 15 could alternatively be acomplex IT structure. For example, a box in the hierarchy couldrepresent a client-server architecture as a complex IT structure havingprimitive elements of server and client.

2.8 Extended IT Delivery Environment

Similar to ITStructure subclasses, the ITDeliveryEnvironment class canhave subclasses, used to define various delivery environments. All ofITDeliveryEnvironment subclasses must override two methods:verifyConformance( ) and addElement( ). The verifyConformance( ) methodverifies whether a particular IT structure can be deployed and canoperate within a given instance of an ITDeliveryEnvironment subclass.The addElement( ) method performs delivery binding of an IT structure tothe IT delivery environment subclass instance if the IT structure hasbeen previously verified via verifyConformance( ) to be depoyable andoperable within the IT delivery environment defined by the giveninstance of an ITDeliveryEnvironment subclass.

While this embodiment does not attempt to enumerate all possibledelivery environments, an example ITDeliveryEnvironment subclass, calledStandardizedITEnvironment is described. The key characteristic of theStandardizedITEnvironment is that it imposes product standards andrestricts IT structures deployed and operated within it only to theallowable product set. So, the verifyConformance( ) method ofStandardizedITEnvironment checks primitive composition of its argumenttarget IT structure and indicates conformance only if every element ofthe primitive composition of the target IT structure belongs to the setof primitive IT structures permitted by the ITDeliveryEnvironmentsubclass. For example, the ITDeliveryEnvironment subclass may restrict acomputer to be an IBM xSeries computer or an IBMzSeries computer.

Another embodiment for using the verifyConformance( ) method is asituation in which an IT structure is currently deployed in IT deliveryenvironment A, but it is desired that this IT structure migrate to ITdelivery environment B. Accordingly, this IT structure would be checkedagainst the verifyConformance( ) method of delivery environment B todetermine if this IT structure could be deployed in delivery environmentB.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart depicting a modified addElement( ) method ofStandardizedITEnvironment to perform delivery binding of the argumenttarget IT structure to the instance of StandardizedITEnvironment, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The modifiedaddElement( ) method effectuates IT delivery binding by invoking thegeneral addElement( ) method of FIG. 3 with an addition of elementsrequired to delivery bind the IT structure to a given IT deliveryenvironment. As a part of this process, the modified addElement( )method of FIG. 19 includes the general addElement( ) method 1902 of FIG.3. If at least one element of the primitive composition of thedelivery-bound IT structure requires access to the Internet, then themodified addElement( ) method assigns 1904 IP addresses to the elementsof primitive composition of the target IT structure requiring IPaddresses, these IP addresses being unique relative to the currentprimitive composition of the instance of StandardizedITEnvironment andadhering to the IP addressing policy of the instance ofStandardizedITEnvironment. Similarly, the addElement( ) method assignsnames 1906 to the elements of primitive composition of the target ITstructure requiring names, and ensures uniqueness of these namesrelative to the current primitive composition of the instance ofStandardizedITEnvironment and adherence of these names to the namingpolicies of the instance of StandardizedITEnvironment. If target ITstructure requires access to the Internet through the firewall(s)provided by the instance of StandardizedITEnvironment, the firewallrules of the instance of StandardizedITEnvironment are updated 1908 topermit the appropriate communications.

2.8.1 Verifying Conformance of an ITStructure to an Exemplary DeliveryEnvironment

The exemplary delivery environment is a data center and is aimed atproviding the highly-available branded infrastructure forInternet-accessible IT applications.

The data center is a new, state-of-the-art facility. It is built ontoday's technology and practices a philosophy of being asecurity-focused operation. Activities and services are monitored by anexperienced technical staff 24×7 from the Network Operations Center(NOC). The facilities include 3,000 square feet of raised floor, anetwork operations monitoring center, conference rooms, administrativespace and coffee room.

The physical space of the data center has a secure co-location in a3,000 square foot room with 18″ raised floor and is ADA (Americans withDisabilities Act)-compliant. The physical space includes 27″×39″×84″cabinets with internal vertical cable management and vented front andback doors. All hardware must fit into cabinets. No space other thancabinets is provided.

The electrical power to the data center from NYSEG (New York StateElectric and Gas Company) is delivered by dual redundant feeds. Theelectric service in the building is connected to a parallel redundantUPS. There is a backup 1000 KW diesel generator with 7-day fuel reserve.

Primary internet access of the data center is via AT&T Gigabit Ethernetover multi-mode fiber to their national fiber network node located inadjacent building. This network node has eight connections to the AT&Tnetwork. Alternate internet access is via 100 Mbps Ethernet oversingle-mode fiber connection to the Cable & Wireless Network.

Security for the data center includes access control by Smart Cardsystem issued by NOC personnel staffed 24×7×365 (24 hours, 7 days aweek, 365 days a year). Data center floor access is controlled by accesscard and biometric scan. Visitors are granted access by duly authorizedrepresentatives of the data center clients. A biometric scan andsurrender of the visitor's driver's license for a proxy card is requiredfor visitors to gain access from the lobby to the administrative area.Another biometric scan and use of the access card is required to enterthe raised floor area.

Conformance factors for the IT structure to the above IT deliveryenvironment (i.e., data center) include:

-   -   Electric power availability, reliability (and possibly voltage)    -   Ability to introduce devices out of the list of “supported”        devices    -   Ability to use specific software, or requirement to run specific        software (e.g., for monitoring or virus defense)    -   Availability of specific rack sizes/space    -   Ability to use geometrically non-standard devices    -   Compliance to physical network layer (ack types; switches/hubs;        network speed)    -   Compliance to monitoring/admin access (e.g., there may be a        requirement to have an extra network interface per physical box        for admin access)    -   Possible conflict of application availability requirements to DE        service window    -   Network bandwidth requirements    -   Internet availability requirements (dual-ISP, etc . . . )    -   Architectural requirements with respect to network (layering,        firewalls, IP addressing schema, network isolation requirements)    -   Network traffic requirements (e.g., “This IT Delivery        Environment will allow only HTTP/HTTPS traffic from the Internet        to your hosts”; “We do not allow outgoing traffic on port 25        directly, you must use one of our SMTP servers if you want to        send email”)    -   Application type limitations (“We do not allow mass-mailing        applications”)    -   Security level provided by IT Delivery Environment versus IT        structure security requirements        2.9 IT Development Process

FIG. 9 is a chart depicting the IT development process, in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention. Translator 3009 (see Sec.2.10; FIG. 10) may be used in a translation process to translate anabstract IT structure 3006 into another abstract IT structure 3007having a lower degree of abstraction than abstract IT structure 3006.This translation process may be recursively repeated until the abstractIT structure 3006/3007 has been translated into a virtual IT structure3008 or until the translation process aborts due to an unsuccessfultranslation attempt. Alternatively, a single translation of abstract ITstructure 3006 by translator 3009 may produce the virtual IT structure3008. The virtual IT structure 3008 serves as input to the deliverybinder 3012 (see Sec. 2.11; Sec. 2.2.2.5, addElement ( ) method, FIG.3), which translates the virtual IT structure into a delivery-bound ITstructure 3013, elements of which are then provisioned and deployed 3014(see Sec. 2.12; deploy( ) method), resulting in a real IT structure 3015operating in the appropriate IT delivery environment.

2.10 Translation

Translation is performed on an abstract IT structure instance with theintention of obtaining a virtual IT structure, which can then beoptimized and bound to one or more IT delivery environment to obtain oneor more real IT structure. FIGS. 10 and 11 collectively describe an ITtranslator (ITRAN) adapted to translate an abstract IT structure to thevirtual IT structure.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting the process of translation of ITstructure instance X 3501, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. The process starts by initializing the return Vector 3508 toan empty Vector 3502. If X is not abstract 3503, no translation isnecessary, and a null return Vector is returned to indicate that noaction was performed (and no errors occurred).

The process then performs a series of iterations until either an erroroccurs or a virtual IT structure is obtained. The process invokes thetranslation iteration process 3504, as described infra in relation toFIG. 11, to iteratively translate the abstract elements of X (i.e., theIT structures in the composition of X) until an instantiation of Xfollowing said iterative translation is virtual. If an error isindicated by the translation iteration (by returning error message(s))3505, any error messages returned by the translation iteration processare added to the return Vector 3506 and processing terminates. Iftranslation iteration processing did not indicate an error 3505, a checkis performed to ascertain whether the translation iteration processingwas successful 3507 (i.e., the translation iteration process returned anew instance of IT structure X), and if so, the new instance of ITstructure X returned by the translation iteration process is made thefirst element of the return Vector 3508, and the current instance of ITstructure X is replaced with the new instance of IT structure X returnedby the translation iteration process 3509. The process then loops backto the check of whether the instance of IT structure X is still abstract3503.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart depicting the translation iteration process,which is performed for an IT structure instance X 3601, in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention. The process iterates throughthe abstract elements of X's composition to perform a translation ofeach abstract element of X, wherein the iterations end when are-instantiation of X results in X being virtual (i.e., being in avirtual state).

The process starts by initializing the return Vector 3620 to an emptyVector 3602. The process then invokes the process of specification for X3603, which may be a NOOP if X is fully specified, or, if X is not fullyspecified, will ensure full specification of characteristics of X. If anerror occurs during the specification process for X 3604, any errormessages returned by the specification process are added to the returnVector 3605 and processing terminates.

The process then checks whether X is abstract 3606, and if X is nolonger abstract (i.e., X is now virtual), the process makes X the firstelement of the return Vector 3607 and returns.

If X is still abstract 3606, the process invokes selection of subclassesfor X 3608. If an error occurs during subclass selection 3609, any errormessages returned by the subclass selection process are added to thereturn Vector 3605 and processing terminates.

If subclass selection did not indicate an error 3609, the process checkswhether X is still abstract 3610, and if X is no longer abstract (i.e.,X is now virtual), the process makes X the first element of the returnVector 3607 and returns.

If X is still abstract 3610, the process checks whether X is primitive3611, and if so, the process places a translation error message in thereturn Vector 3607 and processing terminates. The reason for this isthat subclass selection process for a primitive IT structure hassearched all possible subclasses of X (including any existing virtual ITstructures) and has not found one that would represent a satisfactorytranslation result for X—i.e., no possible virtual IT structure existsthat would satisfy functional, operational, and other requirementsand/or constraints imposed on X.

If X is complex 3611, the process iterates through abstract elements ofX's composition 3612. Because X is still abstract, by definition ofabstract IT entities, X's composition includes at least one abstractelement. Each iteration through X's composition finds the next abstractelement E of X's composition 3613 and recursively invokes thetranslation process for E 3614. If an error occurs during translation ofE 3615, any error messages returned by the recursive invocation of thetranslation process are added to the return Vector 3605 and processingterminates.

If translation process is successful and returns a new instance of E3615, the new instance of E (denoted as E_(NEW)) is substituted for thecurrent instance of E in the composition of X 3616. The process ofsubstitution (not shown, but an analogous process is shown in FIG. 14)involves ensuring that any IT dependencies in X involving E are stillsatisfied, any IT relationships in X involving E are still valid andestablished, any characteristics of X (functional, operational, orother) are still supported, and X is still valid for any IT deliveryenvironment for which it is targeted.

X (with E_(NEW) substituted therein) is then re-instantiated 3618 toform an interim IT structure instance. If an error occurs duringre-instantiation of X 3619 (e.g., if the interim IT structure instanceis not virtual), error messages are added to the return Vector 3605 andprocessing terminates.

X (now re-instantiated) is then made the first element of the returnVector 3620. If X is no longer abstract 3621 (i.e., it is virtual), thereturn Vector (including X as its first element) is returned andprocessing terminates. If X is still abstract 3621, processing iteratesto finding the next abstract composition element of X 3612.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart depicting the process of ensuring specificationof characteristics of abstract IT structure instance X 3701, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The process startsby initializing the return Vector 3707 to an empty Vector 3702. Theprocess then invokes the adjustment process for the X's function(s)3703. The adjustment process for a particular characteristic of an ITstructure may be a NOOP if that characteristic is fully specified, or,otherwise, will ensure full specification of that characteristic. If anerror occurs during the adjustment of X's function(s) 3704, any returnederror messages are added to the return Vector 3705 and processingterminates.

The process then checks whether X is still abstract 3706. It isconceivable that as a result of invocation of setFunctions( ) method ofX, X became virtual. If this is the case, X is made the first element ofthe return Vector 3707 and processing terminates.

If X is still abstract 3706, the process invokes the adjustment processfor the X's operational characteristics 3708. If an error occurs duringthe adjustment of X's operational characteristics 3709, any returnederror messages are added to the return Vector 3705 and processingterminates.

The process then once again checks whether X is still abstract 3710. Itis conceivable that as a result of invocation ofsetOperationalCharacteristics( ) method of X, X became virtual. If thisis the case, X is made the first element of the return Vector 3707 andprocessing terminates.

If X is still abstract 3710, the process invokes the adjustment processfor the X's resolution values 3711. If an error occurs during theadjustment of X's resolution values 3712, any returned error messagesare added to the return Vector 3705 and processing terminates,otherwise, the process makes X the first element of the return Vector3707 prior to completion.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart depicting the process of adjusting a particularset of characteristics of IT structure instance X 3801, in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention. The process starts byinitializing the return Vector to an empty Vector 3802. The process thenbuilds a list D of unspecified characteristics of the requested typethat have default values 3803. If D is not empty 3804 (i.e., at leastone unspecified characteristic of the requested type has a defaultvalue), the unspecified characteristics are set to their default value3805 using the appropriate method (i.e., setFunctions( ) for functionalcharacteristics, setOperationalCharacteristics( ) for operationalcharacteristics, and resolve( ) for resolution values). If an erroroccurs during the appropriate method invocations 3806 (i.e., if therequested characteristics could not be set to their correspondingdefault values), any error messages are added to the return Vector 3807and processing terminates.

If default setting for the unspecified characteristics of the requestedtype was successful 3806, X is re-instantiated 3808. If an error occursduring the attempt to re-instantiate X 3809 (i.e., there is an internallogic error in X—X has accepted the default settings for the unspecifiedcharacteristics of the requested type, but now cannot be instantiatedusing these settings), any error messages are added to the return Vector3807 and processing terminates.

The process then builds a list U of unspecified characteristics of therequested type 3810 (i.e., those that remain unspecified after anydefaults were set). If U is not empty 3811 (i.e., at least onecharacteristic of the requested type remains unspecified), the processprompts the user for specification of the unspecified characteristics ofthe requested type 3812 and sets the now specified characteristic valuesusing the appropriate method 3813. If an error occurs during theappropriate method invocations 3814 (i.e., if the requestedcharacteristics could not be set to the values specified for them by theuser), any error messages are added to the return Vector 3807 andprocessing terminates.

A number of possibilities exist as alternatives to addressing the user,comprising:

-   -   consulting an internal policy, possibly, associated with the        target IT delivery environment(s),    -   generating a value for each unspecified characteristic of the        requested type that would not violate internal logic of the        class of IT structure X,    -   ignoring the fact that a particular characteristic is        unspecified,    -   requiring the users to always provide a default value for all        characteristics of IT structures.

If setting of the user-specified values for the unspecifiedcharacteristics of the requested type was successful 3814, X isre-instantiated 3815. If an error occurs during the attempt tore-instantiate X 3816 (i.e., there is an internal logic error in X—X hasaccepted the user settings for the unspecified characteristics of therequested type, but now cannot be instantiated using these settings),any error messages are added to the return Vector 3807 and processingterminates.

The process then checks whether X was re-instantiated during precedingsteps 3817, and if so, makes the new instance of X the first element ofthe return Vector 3818, otherwise (no error has occurred, but X was notre-instantiated—this is a NOOP processing case), an empty (as originallycreated) return Vector is returned upon completion of the process.

FIG. 14 shows the process of selection a subclass of IT structure X, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The instances ofIT structure X would support characteristics of the instance (abstract)of IT structure X, relationships imposed on the instance of IT structureX, dependencies of IT structure X, and be valid for the IT deliveryenvironments to which the instance of IT structure X is targeted 3901.The process starts by initializing the return Vector to an empty Vector3902. The process then finds all subclasses of the class C of X 3903(i.e., those classes in the class library that inherit from C directlyor indirectly (by inheriting from a class that inherits from C directlyor indirectly)). If no subclasses of C are found 3904, an error isindicated 3905 and processing terminates. The reason for indicating anerror is that X is abstract, and therefore must have a way to betranslated to a virtual IT structure instance. The translation processensures that X is fully specified, and therefore, no other means ofreducing abstraction than finding a less abstract class for X remain—andthat just proved to be impossible.

If at least one subclass of C was found 3904, the process iteratesthrough the list of subclasses CL of C 3906. An instance Y of subclassCL is created 3907. If an error occurs when creating an instance of CL3908, CL is ignored (although an error message may be stored in thereturn Vector, as inability to create an instance of CL indicates anerror in CL definition) and the next value of CL is taken.

If instance Y of class CL was created successfully 3908, Y's ITdependencies are verified 3909. If an error is detected by verificationof Y's IT dependencies 3910, CL is discarded and the next value of CL istaken.

The process then attempts to impose all characteristics of IT structureinstance X on Y 3911. If any characteristics of X could not be imposedon Y and an error occurred 3912, CL is discarded and the next value ofCL is taken.

If transfer of characteristics from X to Y was successful 3912, any ITrelationships of X are imposed on Y 3913. If Y cannot support all of X'sIT relationships 3914, CL is discarded and the next value of CL istaken.

If transfer of IT relationships from X to Y was successful 3914, Y isnow verified against all IT delivery environments to which X is targeted3915. If an error is indicated 3916, CL is discarded and the next valueof CL is taken.

Now that Y supports the context of X, a check is performed to determinewhether Y is abstract 3917. It is conceivable that Y was virtual fromthe beginning, or that one or a combination of the actions performed forthe transfer of X's context to Y caused Y to become virtual. The reasonthis check was not performed before this point is that until it is knownthat Y can support the context of X, Y's type is irrelevant.

If Y is virtual 3917, it is added to the list of translation candidatesD 3921, and the next value of CL is taken.

If Y is abstract 3917, a translation of Y is attempted 3918 (recursiveinvocation of the translation process). If an error occurs duringtranslation of Y or if no error occurs but Y is not translated anyway(NOOP) 3919, CL is discarded and the next value of CL is taken.

If Y was successfully translated 3919, but the result of the translationis still an abstract IT structure 3920, CL is discarded and the nextvalue of CL is taken.

Discarding a subclass of C that does not translate into a virtual ITstructure is not a necessity but a design choice. It would be equallyvalid to include the abstract IT structure Y in the list of candidates Din hopes of subsequent user intervention and manual modification ofclass source of the class CL of Y such that translation of Y to avirtual IT structure becomes possible. The design choice may be made forconciseness and minimization of complicated actions by the user.

If Y is now virtual 3920, Y is added to the list of translationcandidates D 3921 before the next CL value is taken, Upon completion ofiteration through the subclasses CL of C, if the list of translationcandidates D is empty 3922 (i.e., no translation candidates were found),an error is indicated 3905 and processing terminates.

If the list of translation candidates D contains at least onetranslation candidate 3922, the process of translation candidateselection is performed 3923, resulting in selection of a singletranslation result Y from the list of translation candidates D, which ismade the first element of the return Vector 3924 prior to completion ofthe process.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart depicting the process of selecting the besttranslation candidate Y from a list of translation candidates D (allvirtual) 30001, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.The process starts by optimizing each element of D (using its optimize() method), and, if optimization is successful, replacing the element ofD with the result of its optimization 30006. If the list of candidates Dhas a single element 30002, no further action is performed and the oneelement of D is returned.

If the list of translation candidates D has more than one element tochoose from 30002, the prioritized list of optimization classes(getOptimizationFunctions( ) method) is retrieved 30003. The processthen iterates through the list G of optimization classes 30004, alwaystaking the next (i.e., the highest priority) optimization class F fromthe list 30005. The process then assesses each element of D using theassessment function A associated with the optimization class F 30007 andonly keeps in D the elements for which A produces the best result 30008,discarding all others.

If more than one element remains in D 30009 (i.e., optimization resultedin equally good result for multiple elements of D), the process iteratesto the next assessment function.

If after the application of a sequence of assessment functions, D onlyhas a single element 30009, that element is returned as the one selectedfor translation from the list of candidates D.

If all assessment functions are exhausted before D is reduced to asingle element 30004, the list of elements in D is presented to the userand the user's choice acts as the tie-breaker 30010—the user can selecta single element from the list and the others will be discarded prior tothe process completion.

Prompting the user for a tie-breaker decision is a design choice. Otherdesigns are possible, including those in which other means of breakingthe tie are employed (e.g., random choice), and those in which multipleelements of D are returned and, as a result, the user is presented withmultiple equally valid translations. The reason for the choice of humanintervention as the tie-breaker is the extremely low probability ofhaving multiple applications of assessment functions to multipledifferent optimized IT structure instances produce identical results.

2.11 Binding

An IT structure instance X can be added to another IT structure Y byinclusion of X into the composition of Y by means of the addElement( )method of Y. The process of addition of IT structure instance X to Y iscalled binding.

2.11.1 Delivery Binding

A virtual IT structure targeted to a particular IT delivery environmentmay be delivery-bound (i.e., translated into a delivery-bound virtual ITstructure) by means of invoking the addElement( ) method of the targetITDeliveryEnvironment class instance.

2.12 Initiating Deployment of a Delivery-Bound IT Structure

Deployment of a delivery-bound IT structure is initiated by invoking themethod deploy( ) of the particular ITDeliveryEnvironment class instance.

2.13 Fall-Back Policy

In several places above it has been noted that it is not always possibleto transition from an abstract IT structure to, eventually, a real ITstructure. A trivial cause of this may be unavailability of theappropriate materials in a provisioning system. More complex cases arepossibly, in which, although materials are available, the rightcombination of them cannot be derived, or, worse, a wrong choice wasmade in a decision tree of one of the steps of translation to makedelivery binding impossible. In many of these cases, returning to aprevious step in the IT development process may resolve the problem.Therefore, a fall-back policy is implemented throughout the ITdevelopment process, such that, should a condition be reached preventingthe production of a real IT structure as a result of a step of the ITdevelopment process, a return to the appropriate previous step of the ITdevelopment process is performed and a different decision is made,resulting hopefully in a positive outcome of the IT development process.

2.14 IT Agents

An IT agent is a program, installed on or embedded within OS of acomputer, or embedded within microcode or hardware of a device, whichgathers information about hardware configuration of a computer or adevice, software installed on a computer, and network connectivity of acomputer or a device, and transmits this information to a requester.

IT agents may transmit gathered information to a requester unsolicitedor in response to a request. IT agents possess proper OS authorizationand proper network connectivity to be able to transmit gatheredinformation.

IT agents are a particular case of software agents in general, andtherefore their implementation is OS- and possibly hardware-dependent.

External discovery functions other than agents may be used to obtainsome or all of the required information.

Depending on the degree of sophistication of an IT agent, an IT agentmay or may not be able to provide certain types of information—e.g., anIT agent may or may not contain logic permitting it to examinecustomization and configuration parameters of a particular program. Forthe purposes of this embodiment, it is assumed that an IT agent alwayspossesses the degree of sophistication required to accomplish its taskand furnish the information necessary to fulfill a particular function.If this is not the case, and some of the required information may not beprovided by an IT agent, a manual completion step may be required insome of the methods described below, enabling the user to provide themissing information.

Depending on a security policy and network connectivity of a particularIT delivery environment, some IT agents may be unable to gain access tosome of the information they intend to gather, or to transmit some ofthe gathered information. For the purposes of this embodiment, it isassumed that an IT agent always possesses the necessary authority togather the information it needs and is capable of transmitting thisinformation whenever such transmission is required. If this is not thecase, and some of the required information may not be provided by an ITagent, a manual completion step may be required in some of the methodsdescribed below, enabling the user to provide the missing information.

IT agents are assumed to be present on all computers and smart devicescomprising a real IT structure.

2.15 Reverse-Specifying an IT Structure

In order to accomplish some of the functions described below, it may benecessary to perform a process of delivery-binding “in reverse”, havingan operational configuration as input, and deriving from it a real and avirtual IT structure. The process relies on the information gathered byIT agents and builds a real IT structure first, including all ITentities within an IT structure being examined. Once a real IT structureis built, a corresponding virtual IT structure is produced by discardingthe information imposed on an IT structure by the delivery bindingprocess associated with a particular IT delivery environment, andreplacing real primitive IT structures in an IT structure compositionwith their respective virtual primitive counterparts.

While the reverse-specification process will recreate composition and ITrelationships of an IT structure, it will not produce IT dependencies orany methods beyond those present in the real or virtual primitive ITstructures and IT relationships used to comprise thereverse-specification.

The process of reverse-specification is illustrated in FIG. 16, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The process startsby creating a complex IT structure R, with empty composition 31501. Theprocess proceeds to establishing reverse-specification scope 31502. Thisis necessary to bound the reverse-specification process to the necessarysubset of the IT delivery environment. The scope of reversespecification is a list of IT entities (most likely, computers)indicated by a user. If the scope is not provided, all IT entitiessupplied with agents are considered within the scope—e.g., the whole ITdelivery environment. While there are unprocessed entity collections inscope (an entity collection is a group of IT entities reachable by asingle discovery agent —e.g., a computer with its full software stack)31503, consider the next unprocessed entity collection 31504. Obtain thelist of entities and relationships from the associated discovery agent31505, and add this list to the composition of IT structure R 31506.When all the entity collections are processed 31503, if composition of Ris empty 31507, en error is indicated 31508. The resulting IT structureR is returned to the invoker 31509. The resulting IT structure R mayresult from either reverse specifying an IT delivery environment or fromreverse specifying an IT system instance.

2.16 Comparing IT Structures

In some cases, it may be advantageous to compare two IT structures. ITstructure classes can be compared by comparing their source code usingconventional means of program comparison (e.g., delta-compare utility).The process of comparing two IT structure instances is described infra.

The process of comparing IT structures assumes one of the two cases,based on the usage of results of a comparison (these are the practicalcases when a comparison would be useful—the method of comparison is notrestricted to these situations):

1) The IT structure instances being compared are an original and itsreverse-specification—for deployment verification and detection ofunauthorized modifications.

2) The IT structure instances being compared are instances of the sameIT structure subclass—for testing of IT structure methods by the user.

FIG. 17 describes the process of comparing two IT structure instances.The process obtains as input two IT structure instances, termed “old”(X) and “new” (Y) AI. The process obtains primitive compositions(getPrimitiveComposition( )) of the old 1702 and the new 1703 ITstructure instances. The process then obtains primitive relationshipslist (getPrimitiveRelationships( )) of the old 1704 and the new IT 1705structures.

The process then matches elements of the old and the new IT structureinstances primitive compositions and determines any additions ordeletions in (assumed) derivation of the new IT structure from the old1706, and reports any additions or deletions in the new IT structurerelative to the old one 1707.

The process then performs a similar matching for IT relationships of theold and the new IT structure instances 1708 and reports any differences1709.

The process then produces a report (textual and/or graphical), showingany differences, and marking them as additions or deletions.

3. IT Structure Visualization

Visualization of IT structures supports usability for IT developmenttools. At different times during a development of an IT structure, an ITdeveloper may desire to view different configurations relating to an ITstructure such as, inter alia,: a network topology configuration; asystems management configuration; a configuration of IT dependenciesamong IT structure composition elements; and a configuration of ITRelationships among IT structure composition elements.

3.1 Invocation of Fundamental IT Structure Methods

To visually represent various configurations relating to an IT structureX, method getPrimitiveComposition( ) for X may be invoked. Thisinvocation of getPrimitiveComposition( ) returns the list of primitiveIT structures comprising IT structure X. Depending on what informationis being visualized, various additional methods operating on X may beinvoked, including: getPrimitiveRelationships( ) for visualization ofnetworks (e.g, communications networks) or other types of ITrelationships; and getPrimitiveDependencies( ) for visualization of ITdependencies. For visualizing IT dependencies, the present invention mayexploit the fact that the ITStructure class is enhanced with methodgetPrimitiveDependencies( ) which returns a list of IT dependenciesamong elements of IT structure primitive composition. Thus, to displaynetwork topology, the set of IT relationships returned by thegetPrimitiveRelationships( ) method may be a specific subset of the setof IT relationships that includes IT relationships of the subclass“communicates with”. This specific subset represents network paths amongprimitive IT structures returned by getPrimitiveComposition( ). Othersubsets of IT relationships may be used for various other displays;e.g., “is managed” and “managed by” can be used to generate a visualrepresentation of an IT structure that includes management structure asshown in FIG. 29 described infra.

3.2 Visualization of Networks

IT structures may involve complex networks. An IT developer may reviewand analyze various aspects of networking involved in the composition ofan IT structure. The present invention discloses infra methodology fordisplaying multiple overlayed and interconnected networks on a screen ina fashion that enables the IT developer to easily comprehend thenetwork.

FIG. 21A depicts a display of a network comprising devices, networksegments, and vertical connectors, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. The devices are hardware devices and/or softwaredevices and are represented by rectangular icons and may comprise, interalia, computers, routers, firewalls, software packages or modules, etc.

The network segments may represent a hub or VLANS (virtual LANs)implemented in network switches (which could be present as entitieswithin the IT class hierarchy). The network segments may also representa token ring MAU (media-access unit) or Ethernet 10B2 coaxial cable in anetwork topology configuration. The network segments are represented inFIG. 21A by horizontal lines, wherein a network segment may comprisesubsegments and nodes. For example, network segment 4000 comprisessubsegments 4005 and 4006 and nodes 4001-4003.

The vertical connectors are vertical lines that represent physicalconnectors or circuitry that electrically connects devices to networksegments. For example, the vertical connector 4012 is coupled to thedevice 4010 at IP address 192.168.72 and connects the device 4012 tonetwork segment 4000 at node 4001. The vertical connectors may representcables connecting devices engaged in communication IT relationships toaforementioned hubs or VLANS. Another way to define a subclass ofITRelationship class—physicallyConnected—would indicate a connection viaEthernet cable or radio.

Devices are electrically and/or logically coupled to each other by pathswhich are combinations of network segments and/or vertical connectors.The devices names and IP addresses may be generated as a result ofdelivery binding.

3.2.1 Displaying Network Diagrams

The display method of the present invention places related componentsclose to one another to utilize space efficiently and reduce or minimizethe length of connections as well as the number of intersections andinterleaves among connections and devices. A “connection” is a networksegment, a vertical connector, or a combination thereof The method ofthe present invention is performed by executing a goal function methodin which goal values are computed. The goal function method assignsweights to the network segments, the vertical connectors, and overlaysof devices and network segments. The goal function method also limits orprecludes overlay of devices and network segments. An “overlay ofdevices” overlays (and thus obscures) a first device on the screen by asecond device. The goal function method will be described in detailinfra in conjunction with FIG. 24

FIG. 21B depicts relationships between the network display of FIG. 21Aand a two-dimensional matrix representing the screen layout, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. Thus, FIG. 21Bdepicts an overlay pattern of the network segments and the verticalconnectors overlayed on the matrix in accordance with the distributionof the devices in the cells of the matrix and in accordance with thedescription of the configuration of devices, network segments, andvertical connectors provided in step 4200 of FIG. 22 as described infra.

In FIG. 21B, the positive directions associated with the mutuallyperpendicular X and Y coordinate axes are defined to be the horizontaland vertical directions, respectively. An initial phase of the displaymethod calculates the size of a two-dimensional matrix to be used forrepresenting the screen layout. Each cell of the matrix contains onedevice or is empty; and each cell may contain no more than one device.Each displayed device is placed in a unique cell of this matrix. Theinitial size of the matrix may be determined as follows. The initialheight (NY) of the matrix in the vertical direction may be a function ofthe number of network segments in the IT structure. The initial width(NX) of the matrix in the horizontal direction may be a function of thenumber of devices on a network segment of the IT structure having thehighest number of devices attached thereto as compared with all othernetwork segments of the IT structure. The number of cells (N) in thematrix is the product of NX and NY.

Initially, devices may be distributed approximately uniformly in thematrix cells so as to initially form a set of filled matrix cellswithout regard as to which device fills (i.e., placed in) each suchfilled matrix cell. The method then performs multiple iterations, eachiteration trying to minimize the goal value for the prevailing ITstructure. Each iteration considers all possible pairs of matrix cells(such that at least one cell in the pair is non-empty) and swaps thematrix cells of a pair if a swap would reduce the goal value. Pairs ofcells, representing devices with identical sets of network segments towhich they are connected, may be ignored. The method may terminate whenan iteration has not resulted in reduction of the goal value, when theiteration has not reduced the goal value by more than a predeterminedtolerance (e.g., absolute tolerance, percent, etc.) relative to the goalvalue at the end of the immediately preceding iteration, when the goalvalue does not exceed a predetermined upper limiting goal value, when amaximum predetermined number of iterations has elapsed, etc.

In one embodiment, the display method does not use location of networksegments in its decisions, such that the method does not make a decisionthat depends on where any of the network segments is located. Placementof a network segment may be determined as a function of location ofdevices connected to the network segment. Network segment placementdetermination may be performed within the goal function method. However,on every invocation of the goal function method as a side-effect ofexecution of the goal function method, locations of network segments maybe calculated and stored, so that the network segments can be used forpost-iteration processing such as for being rendered on the screen.

FIGS. 22-24 describe the display method in detail, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 22A and 22B (collectively “FIG. 22”) is a flow chart describingmatrix generation and matrix cell swapping, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. FIG. 22 comprises steps 4200-4219.

Step 4200 provides a description of a configuration of devices, networksegments, and vertical connectors relating to at least one IT structure.The description describes how the devices, the network segments, and thevertical connectors are mutually coupled. The configuration may be,inter alia, a network topology configuration, a configuration of ITrelationships among IT structure composition elements, or aconfiguration of IT dependencies among IT structure compositionelements.

In step 4201, the matrix height (i.e., in the vertical direction anddenoted as matrix _height or NY) may be calculated as a function of thenumber of network segments in the IT structure. In one embodiment, thisfunction relating to step 4201 returns double the number of networksegments in the IT structure. Thus the rows may be indexed from 0 to(NY−1).

In step 4202, the matrix width (i.e., in the horizontal direction anddenoted as matrix_width or NX) is calculated as a function of the numberof devices on a network segment having the highest number of devicesattached thereto as compared with all other network segments of the ITstructure. In one embodiment (noting that the devices can be connectedto network segments by vertical connectors both from both above andbelow), this function relating to step 4202 returns three quarters ofthe number of devices on the network segment with the highest number ofdevices in the IT structure, rounded up to the nearest integer. Thus therows may be indexed from 0 to (NX−1).

Step 4203 generates the matrix using the dimensions NX and NY determinedin steps 4201-4202,

Step 4204 initially distributes the devices in the cells of the matrixusing the dimensions NX and NY previously calculated in steps 4201-4202.Thus, the devices are initially distributed to form an initialdistribution of the devices in the cells of the matrix. The devices inthe IT structure may be initially distributed approximately uniformlyand in no particular order (e.g., randomly with respect to the devices)among cells of the matrix. In an embodiment, the number of iterations islimited by a predetermined value (MaxIter), and therefore the iterationcounter (Iter) is initialized to zero in step 4205. In anotherembodiment, the maximum number of iterations may be unspecified and thenumber of iterations may be limited by the approximation to the goalvalue as described supra (e.g., maximum value of goal value, change ingoal value between successive iterations, etc.) In yet anotherembodiment, the number of iterations may be limited by both the numberof iterations and the approximation to the goal value, whichever isachieved sooner. Each iteration comprises execution of steps 4206-4219.

Each cell of the matrix contains content, said content being a device ofthe network or a null content. A null content is defined as an absenceof a device. A cell is said to be empty if the cell contains a nullcontent. A cell is said to be non-empty if the cell contains a device.Thus, swapping two cells of the matrix mean swapping the content of thetwo cells. Consider two cells of matrix denoted as cell A and cell B. Asa first example in which cell A initially contains device X and cell Binitially contains device Y, swapping cells A and B means transferringdevice X from cell A to cell B and transferring device Y from cell B tocell A. As a second example in which cell A initially contains device Xand cell B initially contains a null content, swapping cells A and Bmeans transferring device X from cell A to cell B and transferring thenull content from cell B to cell A (i.e., making cell A empty). As athird example in which cells A and B each initially contain nullcontent, swapping cells A and B cannot change the content of cells A andB from their initially null content.

In step 4206, the goal value is computed as described infra inconjunction with FIG. 24. Steps 4207 and 4208 respectively initializeinternal loop counters i and j to zero. Even though the matrix istwo-dimensional, its cells can be examined linearly, withoutconsideration to their position in the two-dimensional matrix. The cellsare enumerated, starting from 0 and ending with matrix_size-1 (or N−1),wherein matrix_size is equal to the product of matrix_width andmatrix_height (i.e., N=NX*NY). Counters i and j represent cells i and j,respectively, within this linear enumeration.

In FIG. 22, steps 4209-4215 form a first loop over cell i and steps4206-4217 form a second loop over cell j, wherein the first loop is aninner loop relative to the second loop. Thus cells i and j are processedin (ij) pairs according to the first and second loops of FIG. 22 in asequential order described by the notation ((j=0, 1, . . . , N−1), i=0,1, . . . , N−1) subject to i unequal to j.

Step 4209 decides whether the cells i and j should be considered forswapping (i.e., for being swapped), using a criteria such as: at leastone cell of cells i and j is non-empty (i.e., said one cell contains adevice therein) and cells i and j contain devices that do not haveidentical sets of network segments to which the devices in cells i and jconnect. If the cells i and j should not be considered for swapping,then the process iterates to the next value of j in step 4214.Otherwise, step 4410 is next executed.

If the cells i and j should be considered for swapping in step 4209, thecontents of cells i and j are swapped in step 4210, and a new goal valueis computed in step 4211 in accordance with the algorithm described inFIG. 24. In step 4212, the new goal value is compared to the previousgoal value. If the new goal value is not less than the previous goalvalue (i.e., goal value has not decreased), cells j and j are swapped instep 4213 to effectively reverse the swapping previously performed instep 4210.

Step 4214 increments j by 1 to its next value. Step 4215 determineswhether j is less than matrix_size. If j is less than matrix_size thenthe process loops to step 4209; otherwise, step 4216 is next executedwhich increments i by 1 to its next value Step 4217 determines whether iis less than matrix_size. If j is less than matrix_size then the processloops to step 4208; otherwise, step 4218 is next executed whichincrements Iter to its next value.

Step 4219 determines whether Iter is less than MaxIter. If Iter is lessthan MaxIter, then the process loops to step 4206 to execute the nextiteration comprising steps 4206-4219. The next iteration will initiallycompute a lower goal value in step 4206 than was computed in theimmediately preceding iteration, since each swapping of cells in step4211 that is not offset by the inverse swapping of step 4213 lowers thecomputed goal value. Each iteration is characterized by a firstdistribution of devices in the cells of the matrix at the beginning ofeach iteration, wherein the first distribution of the first iteration isthe initial distribution determined in step 4204, and wherein the firstdistribution of each iteration after the first iteration is thedistribution of devices in the cells of the matrix at the end of theimmediately preceding iteration. Therefore each iteration has animproved first distribution of devices in the cells of the matrix ascompared with the first distribution of devices in the cells of thematrix for the immediately preceding iteration. Accordingly, eachiteration has a potential for lowering the goal value relative to thelowest goal value computed in the immediately preceding iteration.

If Iter is not less than MaxIter in step 4219, then the distribution ofthe devices in the cells of the matrix is a final distribution of saiddevices, and the process continues with execution of the algorithmdepicted in the flow chart of FIG. 23, described infra. As stated supra,the use of MaxIter is only one of several alternatives for determiningwhen to stop iterating. The goal value relating to the finaldistribution of devices is lower than the goal value relating to theinitial distribution of devices.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart describing rearrangement of network segments, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The rearrangementof network segments contributes to formation of an overlay pattern ofthe network segments and the vertical connectors overlayed on the matrixin accordance with the final distribution of the devices in the cells ofthe matrix and in accordance with the description of the configurationprovided in step 4200 of FIG. 22. As a side effect of execution of thegoal function method, a list of network segments and their placement aredetermined. FIG. 23 verifyies this list of network segments and theirplacement to eliminate any conflicts, i.e., to ensure that networksegments drawn on a single horizontal row on a screen will notintersect. FIG. 23 includes steps 4301-4312. The method of FIG. 23iterates through the list of network segments using counters i and j torepresent the network segments.

Step 4301 initializes i to 0, and step 4302 sets j to i+1. In FIG. 23,steps 4303-4309 form a first loop over network segment i and steps4302-4311 form a second loop over network segment j, wherein the firstloop is an inner loop relative to the second loop. Thus i and j areprocessed in (i, j) pairs according to the first and second loops ofFIG. 23 in a sequential order described by the notation (0=i+1, i+2, . .. , S), i=0,1, . . . , S−1), wherein S is the total number of networksegments.

Step 4303 determines whether network segments i and j have the samevertical position. If network segments i and j do not have the samevertical position, then the method next executes step 4308 whichincrements j by 1 to j+1. If network segments i and j have the samevertical position in step 4303, then step 4304 is next executed.

Steps 4304-4305 collectively determine whether network segments i and joverlap horizontally. In particular, step 4304 determines whether therightmost end of network segment i is to the right of the leftmost endof network segment j, and step 4305 determines whether the rightmost endof network segment j is to the right of the leftmost end of networksegment i. If steps 4304-4305 collectively determine that networksegments i and j do not overlap horizontally, then the method nextexecutes step 4308 which increments j by 1 to j+1.

If steps 4304-4305 collectively determine that network segments i and joverlap horizontally, then the method next executes steps 4306-4307which are illustrated in FIGS. 27 and 28 in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention. In FIG. 27, network segments i and j,respectively represented by network segments 192.168.6.X and192.168.2.X, overlap horizontally. In step 4306, the method comprisesmoving down one row all network segments and all devices whose verticalcoordinate is greater than the vertical coordinate of network segment i(i.e., network segment 192.168.6.X), resulting in the verticallydownward movement of network segment 192.168.3.X, the device disposedbetween vertical connectors 192.168.4.1 and 192.168.3.1, the devicedisposed between vertical connectors 192.168.2.2 and 192.168.3.2, andthe device disposed between vertical connectors 192.168.2.3 and192.168.3.3). In step 4307, the method comprises moving down one row thenetwork segment j (i.e., network segment 192.168.2.X), resulting in thevertically downward movement of network segment 192.168.2.X) and alldevices connected to network segment j whose vertical coordinate isgreater than the vertical coordinate of network segment j and that werenot moved in step 4306. Note that there are no such devices in FIG. 27to be moved in step 4307. FIGS. 27 and 28 represent the rendered networkdiagram before and after, respectively, the moves of network segmentsmandated by steps 4306-4307, where network segments i and j are the twonetwork segments superimposed on the network diagram in row 3 of FIG.27, and are no longer superimposed in FIG. 28.

In step 4308, j is incremented by 1. Step 4309 determines whether j isless than the number of network segments. If j is less than the numberof network segments, then the method loops back to step 4303. If j isnot less than the number of network segments, then step 4310 is nextexecuted. Step 4310 increments i by 1.

Step 4311 determines whether i is less than the number of networksegments minus 1.If i is less than the number of network segments minus1, then the method loops back to step 4302. If j is not less than thenumber of network segments minus 16, then in step 4312 the finaldistribution of device with the overlay pattern of the network segmentsand vertical connectors are displayed on the display screen and themethod of FIG. 23 ends.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart of steps 44014412 for describing the goalfunction method for computing a goal value called “Goal”, in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention. Counters i and j representnetwork segments i and devices j, respectively. Step 4401 initializesGoal to zero. Step 4402 initializes i to zero. Step 4403 computes andstores the horizontal position of network segment i, as described by thehorizontal matrix coordinates of the leftmost and the rightmost devicesconnected to the network segment i.

Step 4404 increments Goal by the product of a weight (denoted ash_weight) and the width of network segment i (i.e., the difference ofthe horizontal matrix coordinates of the rightmost and leftmost devicesattached the i-th network segment). Step 4405 sets j equal to zero. Step4406 increments Goal by the product of: a weight (denoted as v_weight)and the length of the vertical connector between the i-th networksegment's j-th device and the i-th network segment.

If the vertical connector between the i-th network segment j-th deviceand the i-th network segment crosses any device, Goal is incremented bya penalty value in step 4407. Since such device crossings impair thequality of the visual representation of the network on the screen, itmay be desirable in some embodiments to assign a penalty value thatexceeds the weights of network segments and vertical connectors (e.g.,by one or two orders of magnitude).

Step 4408 increments counter j by 1. Step 4409 determines if j is lessthan the number of devices of the i-th network segment. If j is lessthan the number of devices of the i-th network segment, then the processloops back to step 4406. If j is not less than the number of devices ofthe i-th network segment, then step 4410 is next executed.

Step 4410 increments i by 1. Step 4411 determines if i is less than thenumber of network segments. If i is less than the number of networksegments, then the process loops back to step 4403. If i is not lessthan the number of network segments, then step 4412 returns the value ofGoal to the invoker (e.g., step 4206 or 4211 of FIG. 22).

FIGS. 25-26 illustrate how the swapping of two non-empty cells of thematrix can affect the goal value, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. Denoting C23 and C44 as the cells in (row 2, column3) and (row 4, column 4), respectively, the device “elearningODS” incell C23 and the device “emailODS-email_server” in cell C24 in FIG. 25are shown as having been swapped in FIG. 26. This swapping increases thegoal value for this example. Although the length of the Network Segment192.168.3.X has decreased somewhat, said decrease was more than offsetby increasing the length of the Vertical Connectors 192.168.3.1,192.168.7.1 and 192.168.6.2. Moreover, the goal function method nowintroduced a penalty for Vertical Connector 192.168.7.1 crossing theDevice in row 2, column 4.

The relative values of weights of network segments, vertical connectorsand penalties may influence the layout and visual clarity of therendered network diagram that the algorithm builds. These weights andpenalties can be determined experimentally, by assuming initially equalweights for network segments and vertical connectors, and taking thepenalty value approximately equal to a multiplier (e.g., 50) on theaverage value of the weights for the network segments and verticalconnectors. Trying different network configurations to vary the balancebetween h_weight (see step 4404 of FIG. 24) and v_weight (see step 4406of FIG. 24) provides an empirical technique for determining values ofthese weights and penalties that result in a desirable visual image onthe display screen.

The weight of each network segment may be a same network segment weightfor each network segment, and the weight of each vertical connector maybe a same vertical connector weight for each vertical connector.Alternatively, the network segment weight, the vertical connectorweight, and the penalty may each independently be described by aplurality of values. For example, some network segments may be weighteddifferently from other network segments, some vertical connectors may beweighted differently that other vertical connectors, and some penaltiesmay be weighted differently than other penalties. To illustrate, somedevice connections may be more important to the user for visualizationpurposes than other device connections and the user may accordinglydesire a higher quality visual representation in relation to the moreimportant device connections than in relation to the less importantdevice connections, thereby resulting in multiple weights for at leastone connector parameter (i.e., network segment weight, verticalconnector weight, penalty). Moreover, the weights and penalties may havepredetermined numerical values or may be dynamically computed inaccordance with an algorithm.

In FIG. 24, the goal value is computed as a linear combination of: aproduct of the length and weight of each network segment, a product thelength and weight of each vertical connector, and the penalty.Generally, the goal value is computed as a function of a length andweight of each network segment, a length and weight of each verticalconnector, and a penalty for each crossing of a device by a networksegment. The functional dependence of the goal value on any of therelevant parameters (i.e., network segment weight, vertical connectorweight, and penalty) may be linear or nonlinear. For example, the goalvalue may depend nonlinearly on the length of at least one networksegment, the length of at least one vertical connector, the penalty, andcombinations thereof.

Moreover, the computation of the goal value may comprise computingvalues of cross- coupling terms involving said parameters (e.g., theproduct of network segment weight and the square root of the verticalconnector weight). In other words, the scope of the present inventionincludes any functional dependence of the goal value that results in anacceptable display image of a configuration relating to an IT structure.

3.3 Visualization of IT Dependencies IT Relationships, and SystemsManagement

FIG. 29 illustrates a display for visualizing IT relationship, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 29, fourcomputers are present: eLearningODS-AppServer_1,eLearningODS-AppServer_2, eLearningODS-DBServer, and managementServer.Each of the computers communicates with the other computers, asreflected by the bi-directional IT relationship representation“communicates with”.

Computers have various types of programs installed on them. For example,OS AIX 4.3.2 is installed on eLearningODS-DBServer, and DB DB2 UDBv7.0.1 is installed on OS AIX 4.3.2.

Both instances of Application eLearning_ap 1.7.2 invoke DB DB2 UDBv7.0.1 (and thus, DB DB2 UDB v7.0.1 is invoked by both instances ofeLearning_ap 1.7.2), as shown by the asymmetric IT relationshiprepresentation “Invokes”.

Tivoli_Monitoring program is managing the two application and one DBservers (and thus, the two application and one DB servers are managed byTivoli_Monitoring program), as shown by the asymmetric IT relationshiprepresentation “Manages”.

The computers eLearningODS-AppServer_1 and eLearningODS-DBServer aremutually coupled to each other through the asymmetric IT relationship“Communicates with”.

In one embodiment, multiple relationships genres are shown as combinedin a single display, (e.g., FIG. 29). In particular, FIG. 29 includes amanagement genre, a communications genre, and an invocation genre. Inanother embodiment, the user can select the relationship genres desiredfor display. For example, the user may select relationships of a singlegenre for display such as only management relationships, wherein onlythe management relationship diagram will be displayed. Similarly, theuser may select only invocation relationships, wherein only theinvocation diagram of programs will be displayed.

The display algorithms described in the flow charts of FIGS. 22-24 areapplicable to generating a display of IT relationships as follows, usingFIG. 29 for illustrative purposes in comparison with FIG. 21A. Therectangles of FIG. 29 (e.g., rectangle 4510) simulate the devices ofFIG. 21A. The horizontal lines of FIG. 29 (e.g., horizontal line 4511)simulate the network segments of FIG. 21A. The vertical lines of FIG. 29(e.g., vertical line 4512) simulate the vertical connectors of FIG. 21A.

Generally, the present invention discloses a method for generating adisplay of a configuration of IT relationships among IT structurecomposition elements such that each displayed device (i.e., displayedrectangle) represents an IT structure composition element. The displayedhorizontal segments and vertical connectors form paths such that eachpath links a first device with a second device and represents an ITrelationship between the first device and the second device. Each pathhas two ends and either end or both ends of the path may have aterminating arrow to denote the asymmetry or symmetry of therelationship. A path is unidirectional if one end, and only one end, ofthe path has a terminating arrow denoting an asymmetric relationship(e.g., eLearningODS-DBServer “manages” Tivoli_Monitoring). A path isbidirectional if both ends of the path has a terminating arrow denotinga symmetric relationship (e.g., eLearningODS-AppServer_(—)1“Communicates with” eLearningODS-DBServer, and vice versa). The displayalgorithm will display the terminating arrows.

FIG. 30 illustrates a display for visualizing IT dependencies, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 30, anarrow represents an IT dependency. Thus, Application eLearning_ap 1.7.2requires presence of DB; more specifically, DB2; more specifically,UDBv7. Similarly, eLearning_ap 1.7.2 requires presence of Middleware;more specifically, ApplicationServer; more specifically, WAS (WebSphereApplication Server); more specifically, WASv2. Similarly, DBv7 requirespresence of an OS; more specifically, AIX; more specifically, AIXv4.Similarly, WASv2 requires presence of an OS; more specifically, AIX;more specifically, AIXv4. Similarly, AIXv4 requires presence of aComputer; more specifically, RS/6000.

The display algorithms described in the flow charts of FIGS. 22-24 areapplicable to generating a display of IT dependencies as follows, usingFIG. 30 for illustrative purposes in comparison with FIG. 21A. Therectangles of FIG. 30 (e.g., rectangle 4520) simulate the devices ofFIG. 21A and more generally represent IT structure composition elements.The horizontal lines of FIG. 30 (e.g., horizontal line 4521) simulatethe network segments of FIG. 21A. The vertical lines of FIG. 30 (e.g.,vertical line 4522) simulate the vertical connectors of FIG. 21A.

Generally, the present invention discloses a method for generating adisplay of a configuration of IT dependencies among IT structurecomposition elements such that each displayed device represent an ITstructure composition element (e.g., a hardware element, a softwareelement, a labor or service entity, etc). The displayed horizontalsegments and vertical connectors form paths such that each path links afirst device with a second device and represents an IT dependencybetween the first device and the second device. Each path has two endsand either end or both ends of the path may have a terminating arrow todenote the asymmetry or symmetry of the dependency. A path isunidirectional if one end, and only one end, of the path has aterminating arrow denoting an asymmetric dependence (e.g., ApplicationeLearning_ap 1.7.2 requires presence of DB). A path is bidirectional ifboth ends of the path has a terminating arrow denoting a symmetricdependence. All dependencies shown in FIG. 30 are asymmetric. Thedisplay algorithm will display the terminating arrows.

4.0 Computer System

FIG. 20 illustrates a computer system 90 used for implementing an ITEntity Model and associated processes and for visualizing configurationsrelating to IT structures, including any subset of the algorithms andmethods described herein, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. The computer system 90 comprises a processor 91, an inputdevice 92 coupled to the processor 91, an output device 93 coupled tothe processor 91, and memory devices 94 and 95 each coupled to theprocessor 91. The input device 92 may be, inter alia, a keyboard, amouse, etc. The output device 93 may be, inter alia, a printer, aplotter, a computer screen, a magnetic tape, a removable hard disk, afloppy disk, etc. The memory devices 94 and 95 may be, inter alia, ahard disk, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, an optical storage such as acompact disc (CD) or a digital video disc (DVD), a dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory device 95includes a computer code 97. The computer code 97 includes one or morealgorithms for implementing an IT Entity Model and associated processesand for visualizing configurations relating to IT structures, includingany subset of the algorithms and methods described herein. The processor91 executes the computer code 97. The memory device 94 includes inputdata 96. The input data 96 includes input required by the computer code97. The output device 93 displays output from the computer code 97.Either or both memory devices 94 and 95 (or one or more additionalmemory devices not shown in FIG. 20) may be used as a computer usablemedium (or a computer readable medium or a program storage device)having a computer readable program code embodied therein and/or havingother data stored therein, wherein the computer readable program codecomprises the computer code 97. Generally, a computer program product(or, alternatively, an article of manufacture) of the computer system 90may comprise said computer usable medium (or said program storagedevice).

Thus the present invention discloses a process for deploying orintegrating computing infrastructure, comprising integratingcomputer-readable code into the computer system 90, wherein the code incombination with the computer system 90 is capable of performing amethod for implementing an IT Entity Model and associated processes andfor visualizing configurations relating to IT structures, including anysubset of the algorithms and methods described herein.

While FIG. 20 shows the computer system 90 as a particular configurationof hardware and software, any configuration of hardware and software, aswould be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, may be utilizedfor the purposes stated supra in conjunction with the particularcomputer system 90 of FIG. 20. For example, the memory devices 94 and 95may be portions of a single memory device rather than separate memorydevices.

While embodiments of the present invention have been described hereinfor purposes of illustration, many modifications and changes will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claimsare intended to encompass all such modifications and changes as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of this invention.

1. An Information Technology (IT) system display method, comprising:providing a description of a configuration of devices, network segments,and vertical connectors relating to an IT structure, said descriptiondescribing how the devices, the network segments, and the verticalconnectors are mutually coupled; generating a two-dimensional matrixhaving N cells therein and representing a display screen, each cell ofthe matrix adapted to hold no more than one device of said devices, saidmatrix having NY rows oriented in a horizontal direction and NX columnsoriented in a vertical direction such that N=NX*NY, said horizontal andvertical directions being mutually perpendicular, said devices beinginitially distributed to form an initial distribution of said devices inthe cells of the matrix; defining a goal value of the configuration,said goal value being a function of a length and weight of each networksegment, a length and weight of each vertical connector, and a penaltyfor each crossing of one of said devices by one of said networksegments; determining a final distribution of said devices in the cellsof the matrix; and determining an overlay pattern of the networksegments and the vertical connectors overlayed on the matrix inaccordance with said final distribution and with said description, saidgoal value relating to the final distribution being lower than the goalvalue relating to the initial distribution; and displaying on thedisplay screen said final distribution together with said overlaypattern.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said configuration is anetwork topology configuration, wherein each device independentlyrepresents a hardware device or a software device, wherein thehorizontal segments and vertical connectors form paths such that eachpath links a first device of said devices with a second device of saiddevices and represents a logical connection or an electrical connectionbetween the first device and the second device.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein said configuration is a configuration of IT relationshipsamong IT structure composition elements of said IT structure, whereineach device represent an IT structure composition element of said ITstructure composition elements, and wherein the horizontal segments andvertical connectors form paths such that each path links a first deviceof said devices with a second device of said devices and represents anIT relationship between the first device and the second device.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein a path of said paths is unidirectional. 5.The method of claim 3, wherein a path of said paths is bidirectional. 6.The method of claim 3, wherein all of the IT relationships of theconfiguration are relationships of a single genre.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said configuration is a configuration of ITdependencies among IT structure composition elements of said ITstructure, wherein each device represent an IT structure compositionelement of said IT structure composition elements, and wherein thehorizontal segments and vertical connectors form paths such that eachpath links a first device of said devices with a second device of saiddevices and represents a dependency between the first device and thesecond device.
 8. The method of claim 1, said method further comprising:determining NY as a function of the number of network segments in the ITstructure; and determining NX as a function of the number of devices ona network segment of the IT structure having the highest number ofdevices attached thereto as compared with all other network segments ofthe IT structure.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said determiningsaid overlay pattern is performed after said determining said finaldistribution is performed.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein saiddetermining said final distribution comprises performing a sequence ofiterations; wherein each iteration of said sequence is characterized bya first distribution of said devices in the cells of the matrix at thebeginning of each iteration; wherein the first distribution of the firstiteration of said sequence is the initial distribution, wherein thefirst distribution of each iteration after the first iteration is thedistribution of said devices in the cells of the matrix at the end ofthe immediately preceding iteration; wherein each iteration processeseach cell pair consisting of cell i and cell j in accordance with asequence of((j=0, 1, . . . , N−1), i=0, 1, . . . , N−1) subject to iunequal to j; and wherein the processing of the cell pair of cells i andj includes a swap of cells i and j if said swap lowers the goal value ofthe configuration.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the processing ofthe cell pair of cells i and j considers whether to swap cells i and jonly if at least one cell of cells i and j is non-empty and only ifcells i and j contain devices that do not have identical sets of networksegments to which the devices in cells i and j connect.
 12. The methodof claim 9, wherein the sequence of iterations is terminated uponcompletion of a terminating iteration of said iterations if apredetermined maximum number of iterations has been performed whenperformance of the terminating iteration has been completed.
 13. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the sequence of iterations is terminated uponcompletion of a terminating iteration of said iterations if the goalvalue at the end of the terminating iteration has not been reduced bymore than a predetermined magnitude or percentage relative to the goalvalue at the end of the iteration that immediately precedes theterminating iteration.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein saiddetermining the overlay pattern comprises processing each networksegment pair consisting of network segments i and j in accordance with asequence of((j=i+1, i+2, . . . , S), i=0, 1, . . . , S−1), wherein S isthe total number of network segments in the configuration, and whereinthe processing of the network segment pair of cells i and j includes ifcells i and j overlap horizontally, moving vertically one row down: allnetwork segments whose vertical coordinate is greater than the verticalcoordinate of network segment i; and network segment j and all devicesconnected to network segment j.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein thegoal value is a linear combination of: a product of the length andweight of each network segment, a product the length and weight of eachvertical connector, and the penalty.
 16. The method of claim 1, whereinthe weight of each network segment is a same network segment weight foreach vertical connector, and wherein the weight of each verticalconnector is a same vertical connector weight for each verticalconnector.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the goal value dependsnonlinearly on a parameter selected from the group consisting of thelength of at least one of said network segments, the length of at leastone of said vertical connectors, the penalty, and combinations thereof.